Kuroko no Basket watches Kuroko no Basket: The Meta Saga
by Active-mind-15
Summary: During a multi-school training camp, Akashi stumbles upon a mysterious DVD case labeled 'Kuroko no Basket'. So what's the best thing to do? Call the other teams to the common room area to watch it, of course. Literally involves all the teams with Miracles on it. Rated T for minor swearing.
1. Prologue: Look what I found

**Hello!**

 **Soooo, this was a really unexpected story that I came to write. I was literally discussing the mere concept of writing it with a friend yesterday at like 5 in the evening and now I have chapter 1 out? I'm such a weirdo.**

 **Anyway, I've seen a lot of these 'KnB reacts to KnB' fanfics and after reading a few myself I became inspired to write my own. This is just because I wanted to write how _I_ picture the them reacting to it, since I don't think I'll be fully satisfied hoping the other fanfics will portray the characters' reactions the way I want them to. So better safe than sorry, I guess? But yeah, there you have it.**

 **So, just to answer some questions you might be wondering to yourself, here is what they will be reacting to:**

 **-Seasons 1,2 and 3**

 **-All the OVAs (including the special episode 'Idiots Can't Win')**

 **-All the fandiscs (Because why not)**

 **-And bloopers at the end of each season (they're honestly so underrated tbh...)**

 **This is just the prologue to set the scene. Hopefully after my lectures tomorrow I can get out the next chapter, but yeah. That's all there is to say. Time to dive on in. So, without further ado...**

 **Please enjoy!**

* * *

Prologue: Look what I found

It was a cold day in the middle of February. Akashi sighed to himself in satisfaction as he came back into his room fresh from a shower, recovering his strength after practice.

"Practice in the winter can sure be grueling sometimes," he said to no one in particular.

At the moment, Rakuzan, Seirin, Kaijo, Shuutoku, Touou, and Yosen were having a joint training camp. The captains and coaches of each team had been planning it amongst themselves for some time now and decided that it should be an end of the year training camp to commemorate the close of the Winter Cup and the preparation for the upcoming championships in the next school year. Once everything was set in stone, the only thing left to do was book the lodgings and inform the players. Obviously, everyone readily agreed to go, excited to hone their basketball skills and interact with all the other schools coming, but practices sure were hectic.

Today was the first day, and already Kagami and Aomine were arguing on the court over some trivial topic (as usual), Kise felt the need to be extra bubbly and enthusiastic which somehow managed to piss everyone off, Cancers were ranked last in Oha Asa which meant that Midorima held onto his lucky item at all times (that lucky item ended up being a bunny ear headband and everyone who played against him complained that they couldn't take him seriously), Murasakibara was always bugging the other teams asking if they had snacks or not, and Kuroko just barely made it off the court when they finished before stating that the Lord was calling him and then promptly passing out on the floor. Perhaps it was all the time they spent apart in high school that dulled Akashi's tolerance to their antics, but he hoped the other teams would be okay since they hadn't dealt with them together as long as Akashi had. Well, he could only hope for the best. After all, it was rare when so many people could get together like this.

Just as he was pulling himself out of his thoughts, Mibuchi came through the shōji, sliding it shut on his way in before giving a friendly smile over to his kouhai.

"Ara, Sei-chan. Have you finished in the shower?"

"Yes, I have," Akashi replied. "I was hoping that we could go over the training menu for tomorrow if you had time."

"It's no problem at all," Mibuchi said to the redhead. "Dinner's not going to be for a little bit, anyway. Let's take a look at it."

Just as they were sitting down, there was a sudden knock at the door. Akashi and Mibuchi both exchanged looks and then proceeded to eye the wooden framed door.

"Hm? I wonder who that could be," Akashi mumbled. He stood up from where he was sitting next to the table and walked over to the shōji.

"Yes?" he said, sliding it open. "May I help…"

He trailed off when he looked around and saw nobody. Mibuchi went back to looking at the notes but frowned when he heard Akashi trail off.

"Who is it, Sei-chan?"

"I couldn't tell you if I wanted to, Mibuchi," Akashi said, still standing near the sliding door. "There's no one here."

"Eh?"

Mibuchi turned around, spotting the Rakuzan captain still standing near the door with a perplexed expression on his face.

"No one's there?" Mibuchi echoed. "But I was sure I heard a knock on the door…"

"So did I," Akashi concurred. "But there isn't a single person in sight."

That couldn't be possible, could it? Akashi looked around once more to be sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. No one to his left, and no one to his right. He frowned.

 _Maybe it was a prank?_

He took one step outside, to try and scope the area around their room better, but in that process, he stepped on something. Instinctively retracting his foot in surprise, the redhead backed up slightly before looking down on the floor to see what he stepped on. There, sitting on the floor, was none other than a DVD case. His eyebrows furrowed, and he bent down to pick it up off the floor.

"When did this get here?" he murmured.

"When did what get there?" Mibuchi stood up himself, sauntering over to Akashi before peering over his shoulder and spotting the DVD case in his hand. "What's that, Sei-chan?"

"It appears to have been dropped outside our door," Akashi said in reflection. "However, when I entered the room, there was nothing by the door. Was this here when you came in, Mibuchi?"

"I don't think so," the Shooting Guard responded. "If it was, I think I would have seen it."

"What even is this DVD anyway? A movie perhaps?"

"Wait, it has a title on the front cover."

The second-year squinted as his eyes skimmed the kanji on the plastic casing. "Kuroko no Basket…?" he read off the case. "What kind of a strange title is that?"

"Kuroko no Basket?" Akashi repeated. "…Kuroko?" He immediately flipped the cover over to see if there was anything on the back. Lo and behold, there was some text there and Akashi exchanged one more look with his vice-captain before clearing his throat and reading the text aloud.

"Kuroko no Basket is an anime that centers around the Seirin High School basketball team. With Kuroko Tetsuya and Kagami Taiga as its core players, they face the Generation of Miracles as their opponents in their Interhigh and Winter Cup with their goal being to become the number one team in Japan…" He blinked. "Huh?"

This had to be some type of joke. There was no way that there was an anime about Kuroko, or Kagami, or anyone present in this training camp for that matter. He cracked open the DVD case and the two Rakuzan starters were shocked to find that there were CDs in there. Three of them to be precise, each of them labeled 'Season 1', 'Season 2', and 'Season 3' with a little note inside that said 'Watch these!'. They were now beyond confused.

"How can this be?" Mibuchi said, still struggling to figure out what was going on. "These can't be real CDs, right?"

"Well," said Akashi. "I suppose there's only one way to find out."

…

"Why are we having a group meeting?"

After dinner was over, every single member of the training camp had suddenly been summoned to the common area in front of the TV. All the teams from all the schools were looking at Akashi, who was standing over them with an impassive look on his face. Everyone, of course, was questioning the summoning, but only Aomine decided to voice his complaints out loud. Akashi turned to the blue-haired teenager, holding up the DVD case.

"I'm glad you asked, Aomine," he said. "I found this DVD case outside our room, a few minutes ago."

"A DVD case?" Kagami asked, tilting his head to the side. Akashi nodded.

"Precisely," he said. "So, I thought it would be a good idea to watch it with everyone."

There was a long silence in the room as everybody stared at each other. Slowly, amidst all the silence a hand went up in the air.

"Ano…"

The whole of Seirin jolted out of their seats and stared at the occupied space in the chair where a certain teal-haired phantom was sitting. Akashi rolled his eyes at their reaction. "Yes, Kuroko?"

"If I may ask," he began. "What's in the DVD case?"

"Yeah," Kise chirped from one of the couches. "It would be nice to know what we're watching-ssu!"

"Very well, I'll tell you," said Akashi. "The DVDs in here are from an anime series."

Everyone stared in confusion at the redheaded captain until a flurry of whispers from the various teams began to be heard from around the room.

"Oi Kuroko. Why does your former captain want to watch anime?"

"I'm not sure, Hyuuga-senpai. I'm just as confused as everyone else."

"Shin-chan, what the hell is this situation? Is Akashi feeling okay?"

"Be quiet Takao, before he hears you, nanodayo."

"Kise… What's the deal with your old captain over there?"

"I don't know, Moriyama-senpai! I still don't know what's going on-ssu."

"We're watching an anime series? Sounds pretty stupid to me."

"Shush, Dai-chan! Don't bad-mouth Akashi-kun's idea!"

"An anime series~? Is it about sweets?"

"Not everything is about sweets, Atsushi, but I would like to know what the series is about."

"Hey, hey, Akashi," Hayama called, tapping his captain on the arm. "What's the series called?"

"Ah, of course, the series name." The whole room watched as Akashi stared straight at the large crowd with a small grin on his face. "It's called 'Kuroko no Basket'."

Dozens of confused faces turned to greet him, completely dumbfounded by what he just said, and another uncomfortable silence fell upon the room. It was only when they finally registered what he said that they decided to react.

"What?!" they all screamed in unison. Akashi looked completely unfazed and simply nodded before folding his arms.

"I figured you would all be surprised," he said.

"Of course we are!" Kagami exclaimed. "Kuroko no Basket? Why is it an anime about Kuroko? Who even made this?"

"I'm not quite sure myself," Akashi answered. "Like I said, it randomly appeared outside my door. It says it's an anime following Seirin High School and their journey to becoming the number one basketball team in Japan. And since it came with a note that told us to watch it, I figured everyone might want to see this."

"Eh? An anime about our team?" Furihata said in bewilderment. "Why us?"

"Seriously, who made this?" Hyuuga muttered. The black-haired Point Guard of Seirin, Izuki Shun, shrugged at his question.

"Beats me," he said. "But if it's about us then it would be interesting to watch. After all, this anime was ani _made_ for this situation. That's it!"

"Izuki shut up."

"An anime about our team, huh?" Kiyoshi said in awe. "I wonder what they'll show us."

"I think that it'll show most of the anime from our point of view!" Koganei supplied. "What do you think Mitobe?" The Centre of Seirin, Mitobe Rinnosuke, remained silent but blinked once and gave a small smile. Koganei nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, I think it'll start from the beginning too!"

"It's been almost a year and I still don't know how Koganei-senpai is able to tell what he's thinking," Kawahara said in amazement.

"Same here," Fukuda said. "It's still a mystery to me." Tsuchida laughed as he patted the two on the back.

"Don't worry," he said to them. "You'll get used to it."

"In any case," said Kuroko. "I think maybe it might be good to show this anime if it's about us. As it stands, I think every school with a Miracle on their team seems to be confused on the big picture of how everything adds up."

The rest of the members of their respective teams nodded. It was true. Since most of them only saw Seirin High School on the court, they had no idea what went on when they were off the court, which included various encounters with Miracles and other key moments that would fill in missing information for them. Maybe watching this so-called anime wouldn't be so bad after all.

"You do bring up a fair point, Kuroko," Akashi said. "If you think that this is the most logical course of action, then it would be best for everyone to watch this together. Call it a team bonding exercise if you may." He looked around at all the teams. "Are there any objections?"

When nobody's hand went up, Akashi smiled.

"No objections?" he said. "Good. Then let's get started. Pay attention, everyone."

With that, he put the DVD for Season 1 into the DVD player under the TV and, with one last grin towards the rest of them, pressed play.

* * *

 **And that's all folks! I hope this prologue was interesting for you and I hope it makes you want to stay tuned. Anyway it's almost 3 a.m. and I have to wake up at nine so I'm going to bed now. Next up: Episode 1- I am Kuroko!**

 **Read and review please!**


	2. Episode 1- I am Kuroko

**THIS IS SO FUCKING LONG HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.**

 **Hello! I didn't think I'd be back so soon! It's nearly five-thirty in the morning and I'm nearing death so after I post this I'm going to bed.**

 **First of all I would like to thank anyone who favorited, followed and reviewed in the past 2 days. I really appreciate the positive response!**

 **To goddess bubbles: Girl I got you! Of course the third-years will be here, I couldn't possibly leave them out. Their commentary is always welcome.**

 **BEFORE I BEGIN: May I just make an adjustment to what I said they would be reacting to in this fanfic. I'm gonna leave out the fandiscs, because they continuously break the fourth wall in those, and I realized I can't work my way around those. But they'll react to everything else.**

 **ALSO: This chapter is super long but the main reason is because they react to the opening in the one. This is the first and last time I will do this, and they will only react to openings every time they change. (Also no ending song reactions today because my fucking fingers hurt from typing.) But yeah, I think that's it. Now, without further ado...**

 **Please enjoy!**

* * *

Episode 1- I am Kuroko

Riko cut the lights off in the room and went to go sit down as the murmuring ceased and there was nothing but quiet. When Akashi pressed play on the DVD player, everyone's eyes were on the screen, perking up when they heard the intense music being played in the background along with some narration.

" **Teiko Middle School basketball club. An incredibly strong team with over a hundred members and three consecutive championship wins."**

Most of the room looks at the previous Teiko middle-schoolers out of the corner of their eyes. Kagami blinked.

"So, they're gonna start off with that, huh?" he said.

"Good thing they didn't forget to mention our three consecutive championships," Aomine said smugly. Wakamatsu kicked him from behind.

"Don't get so ahead of yourself when it's only been ten seconds in, you bastard. Watch the damn episode."

" **Even within that brilliant history, a group of five prodigies known as the 'Generation of Miracles' stood above the rest." The screen flashed to all the Miracles one by one. First Kise, then Midorima, then Aomine, then Momoi, then Murasakibara, and finally Akashi.**

"It's talking about us now?" Momoi said. "I thought this wasn't focused on us. Where's Tetsu-kun?"

"Eh? That's weird," said Kise. "They showed all of us, even Momocchi, but where's Kurokocchi?"

"Do you think," Midorima began. "That they might have accidentally left him out?" The other teams looked at the Phantom Sixth Man in pity.

 _Even though he's the protagonist of this anime,_ they all thought solemnly. _How tragic!_

" **However, there was a strange rumor concerning the Generation of Miracles."**

"There were a lot of rumors concerning us," said Kuroko. "Half the school thought we had superpowers."

"For good reason," Mayuzumi said back. "And it doesn't make it any better that your former captain can see the future." Akashi looked back at Mayuzumi and huffed out a breath of air.

"Rude."

" **Despite being relatively unknown and lacking a game record, there was one more member recognized by the five prodigies." The screen flashed to somebody's shadow by an open door, the camera shifting up to reveal the back of a teal-haired boy wearing the Teiko number fifteen jersey.**

" **A Phantom Sixth Man."**

 _So that's where he was hiding,_ they all thought. Kuroko blinked when he saw himself on screen.

"Ah, there I am," he deadpanned.

"So they didn't forget Kuroko-kun after all," Himuro said in relief. "It would've been pretty bad to forget to introduce the main character, huh?"

"To be honest, though," said Takao. "If they did forget him, would anyone really be surprised?"

"Nope," everyone said. Kuroko pouted and folded his arms, going back to look at the screen.

"How mean."

 **Suddenly there was a basketball bouncing across a court in slow motion as some upbeat guitar music began to play. Then there was the bottom half of Kuroko's face, sweat dripping down to his chin. He was in front of a huge crowd, observing the court as he reached up with his shirt to wipe the sweat, flashes of Midorima, Aomine and Kise and the rest of Seirin's starters in the background.**

By this time, most of the people watching were nodding their heads to the beat. Kasamatsu looked quite impressed with the music already.

"This song is pretty sick," he commented. "I should learn this on guitar sometime."

"I didn't think this anime would have an opening," said Nebuya.

"Isn't that normal, though?" Hayama asked. "Don't all animes have openings?"

"Well yeah," said Nebuya. "But if this based on real life events I thought they wouldn't go that far."

"Whoever made this must have had a lot of time on their hands," Imayoshi muttered from the side. "Well, at least the song's good so far."

 _ **Dakara iita janai ka**_

 _ **Yowasa wo uri ni shittate**_

 _ **Mae ni nanka susume shinaindaze**_

 **After showing the anime logo, it shows Kuroko sitting on a ledge sipping a vanilla milkshake.**

"Shouldn't you be in class or whatever?" Aomine asked his former light. "And why the hell are you sitting on a ledge?" Kuroko shrugged.

"Aesthetic," he replied.

 _ **Nee hakanai jibun**_

 **Kuroko turns to the right and the screen goes over to Kagami, who is** _ **standing**_ **on the ledge, holding about six burgers, and eating another. His eyes flicker over to Kuroko and then back to the view of the streets down below.**

"Why are you doing the same thing, Bakagami?!" Riko said in exasperation, whacking the ace of the team across the head with a rolled-up magazine. "If you fell, that would've been the end! You first-years just don't care for your lives, do you?"

"Alright! I'm sorry!" Kagami yelled. "And why am I the only one getting hit?!"

"Don't talk back to your seniors!"

"OW!"

"So is no one going to discuss the fact that he was planning to eat all seven of those burgers by himself?" Liu pointed out.

"Are you serious?" Fukai said incredulously. "His jumps literally defy gravity and the first thing you want to question is his calorie intake?"

 _ **Enshutsu shittate dare mo mukandou**_

 **The whole of Seirin was jogging outside while Riko was riding ahead of them on a yellow scooter. Kagami and Kuroko were lagging behind the rest.**

"I can understand Kuroko lagging behind the rest because he has low stamina," said Midorima. "But Kagami, what's your excuse, nanodayo?"

"Yeah, Kagami-kun, what's your excuse?"

"You shut up, Midorima! And Kuroko, don't just suddenly join him!"

 _ **Kodoku ga sainamu yoru ni datte**_

 _ **Asu machi wabiru hikari ga aru**_

 **Another scene shows Kuroko and Kagami in a crowd of people near a crosswalk, and then by themselves on a train track.**

"Seriously, what the hell were you guys doing?" Susa asked the light-shadow duo. "They show you in every single location except school."

"Were you guys truanting by any chance?" said Sakurai. Kagami felt the dark aura from behind him as Riko slowly grabbed for the magazine again. He went deathly pale.

"No, I swear we weren't!" he said hurriedly before Riko could hit him. "Sakurai, tell her we weren't ditching!"

"I'm sorry I asked! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm—"

"Oh for fuck's sake, just _shut up!_ " Aomine yelled at them.

 _ **Tsuyogaru yowai jubun wo mitomerareru tsuyosa wo**_

 **Kuroko stood holding a basketball as sakura petals blew in the breeze around him.**

"You sure are one for dramatic poses, Kuroko," Akashi said. Kuroko noisily slurped on a vanilla milkshake.

"Go big or go home."

 **After showing Kuroko, it flashed to Aomine overtaking Kagami in what seemed like a basketball match.**

"Heh, loser," Aomine sneered. "It's like you didn't even try to beat me." Kagami smirked.

"Well guess which loser _still_ whooped your ass in the first round of the Winter Cup."

Several handfuls of snickers flew about the room and a few people whistled.

"That was a nice one, Kagami."

"Aomine-kun, should I call the hospital to treat your burns?"

"It's a shame, considering how burnt his skin is already, nanodayo."

"Oi Midorima I heard that you bastard!"

 _ **Hajimerunda yareru monsa**_

 **The next scene shows Midorima adjusting his glasses and Kise smirking at the camera.**

"Senpai! Senpai! Did you see me?" Kise said excitedly. "I looked so cool there!" Kasamatsu turned to Riko.

"Permission to kick Kise?"

"Permission granted," Riko replied. The third-year did just that, Kise flying off the couch and face-planting on the floor.

"Stop being so damn narcissistic, dumbass."

"So mean, senpai!"

 **The scene then cut to Midorima making a three against Seirin.**

The glasses-wearing Miracle smirked.

"As I should be," he said.

 _ **Soko kara mae wo mui chatte**_

 **The screen showed Riko making a peace sign at the camera with a smile.**

Riko began nudging Hyuuga with her elbow.

"Ne, ne, Hyuuga. That was me."

"Yeah, yeah, I can see that," he said.

The rest of them looked at the duo and sweat-dropped.

 _They're like a married couple…_

 _ **Aruke**_

 _ **Hashire**_

 _ **Nando demo**_

 **The screen shows Kagami and Kuroko fist-bumping and then taking off, Riko watching the court with immense focus.**

Aomine frowned. "How come you're giving that scrub a fist-bump?"

"Who the fuck are you calling a scrub?!"

"I can give you one too, Aomine-kun," Kuroko said. "Just because I gave one to Kagami-kun doesn't mean I can't give one to you."

"Somebody's jealous," Miyaji said to Otsubo. He chuckled lightly.

"Ahhh, such is youth…"

 _ **Choushi haruze no koe datte ii sa**_

 _ **Sore ga doushitan datte**_

 **Kuroko sends a behind the back pass to Kagami who grabs the ball and goes toe-to-toe with Kise, attempting to drive past him.**

"Ohhh! I get to be in the action!" Kise cheered.

"Taiga, does your face always look that intense during a game?" Himuro asked. Kagami looked away in mild embarrassment.

"Yes…" he grumbled.

 _ **Sakebunda ore no ban da can you do it?**_

 **Kise had the ball now and did a turnaround on Kagami before going for a jump shot.**

"Nice," a few people in the room said.

 **The screen showed Kuroko against Otsubo and Kimura. The Phantom Sixth Man faked like he was about to drive past but passed the ball behind him.**

"Nicer," a few more people said.

 _ **Suru to dou darou nan datte**_

 _ **Kowaku nanka naku natten ze**_

 _ **Kyou ga wagami da**_

 _ **I can do it!**_

 **Kagami caught the ball and drove past Imayoshi before passing to Izuki. Izuki caught the ball and passed to Kuroko, who did another behind the back pass to the basket, where Kagami caught it and made a successful alley-oop.**

"Nicest," everyone said.

Kagami and Kuroko did a little fist-bump while Izuki gave them a grin, the three of them relishing in their last play.

 _ **You can do it!**_

 _ **We can do it!**_

 **Pictures of Hyuuga, Izuki, Koganei, Mitobe and Riko appear on the screen as Kuroko holds a basketball and looks timidly at the camera. Then, Kagami, Aomine, Kise and Midorima appear on screen as well, completing the scene, thus, finishing the opening.**

"Ara? I didn't appear in the opening," Murasakibara said, his voice slightly disappointed. Akashi gave him a reassuring smile.

"It's alright, Murasakibara," he said. "I assume the two of us aren't in it because we came into the fray much later." The purple-haired titan nodded slowly in understanding.

"Okay..."

"Well anyway, that was a good opening," Okamura said. "It really gets you fired up looking at all those basketball scenes."

"I agree," said Nebuya. "It makes want to eat more!"

"Don't. That's revolting," said Mibuchi, scrunching his nose in disgust. "If I hear you belch even once during this episode I'll throttle you."

"Well now that the opening is done, I suppose now comes the main event," said Akashi. "Let's all watch, everyone." All the people in the room eyed the screen expectantly.

 **The screen showed a sign with golden characters on it that read 'Seirin Private High School'. There was quite the commotion within the school gates, dozens upon dozens of students promoting their own respective clubs.**

" **Anyone interested in rugby?"**

" **Have you ever played shogi?"**

" **You gotta play baseball if your Japanese!"**

" **Swimming! It feels great!"**

"The(re) s(u)re are (a) lot of (cl)ubs (to) join!" Hayakawa said, looking impressed. The rest of the room stared at the second-year in confusion.

 _What the hell did he just say?_

 **The scene cut to Koganei, who was standing amongst the large crowd of students, holding up his own flyers.**

" **Basketball! Basketball club! How'd you like to join the basketball club?"**

"Look! There I am!" Koganei shouted, pointing to himself on the screen.

 **A black-haired teenager next to him turned around and looked at him with disapproval.**

" **Koganei, you can't be serious."**

 **It was Izuki.**

"And there _I_ am," Izuki bragged, puffing out his chest. "Oh, and there's Mitobe behind me there." Mitobe nodded in acknowledgment.

" **How else am I supposed to say it?" Koganei inquired.**

" **New kids, join the basketball club," Izuki said, giving his own example. "The basketball club needs some serious help!"**

The entire team of Seirin groaned while everyone else stared at the currently beaming Izuki in disbelief.

"Wow," said Takao. "And Shin-chan says that my jokes are bad."

"They are, nodayo," said Midorima. "His are just worse."

 **Koganei sweat-dropped. "I've had enough of your jokes, Izuki." He turned to their other companion who was handing out flyers beside them. "Mitobe, make sure they hear you!"**

 **Mitobe smiled and nodded…before continuing to pass out flyers without speaking. Koganei stared at him in exasperation.**

" **He isn't even gonna open his mouth. How scary…"**

Laughter erupted in the room at Mitobe's response while Koganei sat next to him, looking rather betrayed.

"You know now that I look back," said Furihata. "I feel like our team was very good with comic relief."

"Yeah same," said Fukuda.

"I did at times feel like I was in a sit-com," said Kawahara.

"You think so?" Kiyoshi said to them. "I didn't know that many people in our team were funny." The first-year trio stared at him with narrowed eyes.

 _You're one of them,_ they all thought.

 **Right as Koganei finished talking, Kuroko walked right past him.**

 _Here it comes,_ everyone thought.

 **But Koganei completely missed him and went to another passerby student instead.**

" **Hey, do you have a minute?"**

The room fell silent as everyone looked at Koganei. He noticed the stares and flinched when he sensed the tension.

"What?" he said. "I didn't see him okay?!"

"Koganei, fight!" Tsuchida said encouragingly.

 **The screen showed the bottom half of Kuroko. He was walking and reading a novel at the same time.**

"Why are you walking while reading-ssu?" Kise asked. Kuroko rolled his eyes.

"Because I can," he responded back.

"That's quite dangerous," Akashi said. "You could have run into someone, Kuroko." The Phantom Sixth Man shifted his eyes to the ground.

"Sorry," Kuroko mumbled.

 _He's so whipped,_ the rest of Seirin thought.

 **Kuroko was passing by a glasses-wearing student holding a stack of flyers. He turned in his direction.**

" **Ah, you're a reader, aren't you?"**

"See?" Kise told Koganei, gesturing to the TV screen. "Even this total stranger noticed Kurokocchi."

 **The student handed a flyer to the boy behind Kuroko while Kuroko simply ducked under his outstretched arm and continued to walk.**

" **How about the Literature club?"**

" **Sorry, but this is just a manga."**

" **Manga are books too."**

"Or not!" he cried.

"When will the torture end?" Liu said dramatically. "For the love of God, somebody notice him already!"

 **Kuroko continued to walk until his eyes fell upon a sign. It was a club booth map. On the map, between the baseball and the football booth, was the booth for the basketball club. The scene cuts to where it left off with the three second-years promoting the basketball club.**

" **Basketball! Basketball club!"**

" **Join the club and you'll be cute too!"**

Yet another chorus of groans was emitted from Seirin when they realized that Izuki had made another stupid joke. Aomine turned to Kuroko.

"Oi Tetsu. Is this gonna happen every time your point guard makes a joke?"

"Probably," Kuroko answered.

 **In the midst of their promotion, a tall shadow loomed over Koganei and a deep voice rang out among the crowd.**

" **Are you guys in the basketball club?"**

 **Koganei looked up and saw that a very tall teenage boy was standing over him. Only the bottom of his face was shown, but what made him stand out aside from his height was the silver ring dangling from a chain around his neck.**

"Kagami-kun, it's you," Kuroko said, poking his partner in the side. Kagami pumped a fist in the air.

"Yosh! It's my debut time!"

"Why do they make him look so unnecessarily tall?" Akashi complained. "They better have those kinds of camera angles for when I make my debut."

 **The scene panned over to Riko and Hyuuga, who were sitting at a table with a sign on it that said 'Boys' Basketball Club'.**

Mayuzumi snorted. "Damn. That's one sorry looking poster."

" **Just a few more would be nice," Riko sighed. Hyuuga put his cup down and looked at her with a weary expression.**

" **We couldn't even get ten."**

"You guys were this unpopular?" Momoi said in disbelief. Hyuuga shrugged.

"Basketball isn't the first thing Japanese people think to do when they're looking at clubs to join."

 **Riko shifted in her seat, putting the clipboard down. "We're just getting started," she said. "We're a new school. If we win the InterHigh and the Winter Cup, we'll be a big deal starting next year." Hyuuga quirked a brow.**

" **Are you casually putting pressure on your captain?"**

" **Hyuuga-kun, have you always been so delicate?" The teen let out a sigh of despair and hung his head.**

" **I'll do my best. I will do my best."**

The majority of the room watched as Riko smiled in her seat and Hyuuga shifted uncomfortably.

 _Poor guy,_ they thought.

 **Riko turned her attention away from Hyuuga to look around at the activities fair.**

" **I wonder how the recruitment is doing," she wondered. "If they could just bring in a few promising ones that would be…" She trailed off when she turned around and came face-to-face with Koganei, tears streaming down the teen's face.**

" **The new students are here," he sobbed.**

Everyone in the room laughed.

 **Riko frowned. "What?"**

" **Is this the basketball club?"**

 **Riko looked up and realized who had dragged Koganei over. There, gripping the back of his uniform was a certain redheaded individual glaring intensely down at Riko.**

All of the first-years in the room were appalled.

"Oho?" Miyaji said, cracking his knuckles. "How ballsy does a first-year have to be to manhandle their senpai like that? Come over here and I'll teach you a thing or two, you brat. Kimura, go get me a pineapple."

Kagami gulped. The other GoM members sent him their own looks of pity.

 _Rest in pieces, fellow first-year..._

 **Riko and Hyuuga stared at him in awe, rendered momentarily speechless. After a few moments, Riko finally nodded.**

" **Yeah…"**

 _ **Who the hell is this guy?**_ _ **He has the intensity of a wild tiger!**_

"I don't remember you saying that." Kagami said, scratching his head in confusion.

"I don't either," Riko responded. "Well—I mean I thought it, but I didn't say it out loud."

Kiyoshi stroked his chin in thought. "Maybe this anime also tracks our thoughts too."

"Ehhh? Seriously?" Hayama said in excitement. "That's so cool!"

"Well I personally find it creepy," Fukui said. "But sure, we can go with cool. It might be interesting to hear what everyone else is thinking."

"This anime is breaching all levels of privacy," Kuroko deadpanned. "Also coach, I can't believe you compared Kagami-kun to a tiger." Izuki gasped.

"It's the Eye of the Taiga. That's it!"

"IZUKI SHUT UP."

" **I want to join…" Kagami stated. Riko and Hyuuga both blinked.**

" **What?" The redhead dumped Koganei on the table and pulled out the chair to sit down.**

" **The basketball club," he clarified.**

" **Um?"**

 **Riko was pleasantly surprised. "Welcome, welcome!" she said happily. "Just wait a second!" Hyuuga handed her a drink in a paper cup which she in turn placed near the sign-up sheets.**

" **I'm sure you know, but our school only opened last year," she explained as Kagami took the cup and began to drink. "Our seniors are only second years, so I'm sure someone of your build would probably quickly—"**

" **I don't care," Kagami interrupted. "I'm going after I leave my name."**

Several dozen eyebrows raised at Kagami's behavior.

"Taiga, what were you thinking?" Himuro sighed, facepalming from the second-hand embarrassment.

"Kagami-kun, I can't believe you said that to our senpai," Kuroko told him.

"We can't believe it either," Fukuda said. "We're surprised they haven't killed him yet."

"So am I," Hyuuga said darkly, staring holes into the back of Kagami's head. "This idiot is just lucky he's good at basketball." Kagami shivered.

 _If this keeps up, I might not live to see episode two!_

 **As Hyuuga watched him from his seat, Riko stared at the sign-up sheet he had filled out. She blinked when she saw something that confused her.**

" **Huh? You don't have a reason for joining?" Kagami gulped down the rest of his drink and crumpled the cup in his hand.**

" **Not really," he said. He stood up from the table and began to walk away. "Basketball's the same, no matter where you go in Japan." He threw the crumpled cup behind his back and it soared in the air before bouncing off the edge of the bin next to the table and falling in. Riko looked at the bin the cup landed into with wide eyes, before shifting them back to the disappearing figure. Kagami looked back at her before huffing out a breath of air in an arrogant manner and turning back around.**

"Fuckin' showoff," Aomine muttered.

" **He's terrifying!" Koganei finally said, his face still on the table. "Is he really a first-year high school student?"**

" **He's one in a million," a voice said from behind him. Koganei turned around and saw Izuki and Mitobe standing next to the table.**

" **You!" he shouted. "Where have you been hiding?"**

"Behind the tree, if you were wondering," Izuki said amongst the snickers in the room. "After we saw you get manhandled by a first-year there was no way we were going out there."

 **Hyuuga picked up the clipboard from the table and read the completed sign-up sheet from the clipboard.**

" **Kagami Taiga," he read. "He went to middle school in America. He must've learned from the source."**

" **Either way I'm sure he'll be extraordinary."**

"What an experience," said Moriyama. "I wish I could go."

"Same here," said Kasamatsu. "I'd love to get a chance to play—"

"I bet there are some super cute girls there!" Kasamatsu's eyebrow twitched in irritation.

"Never mind…"

" **Yo." Hyuuga and Riko looked down to see Koganei was calling them. He was holding up another sign-up sheet, this one also completed. "You forgot this club request."**

Everyone exchanged looks with each other as the GoM looked over to their former shadow knowingly.

"Well," Akashi began. "I guess it's safe to assume that we all know whose club request that is."

Everyone was as plain as day. After all this time, the anime finally decided to focus on the actual main character.

" **Oh sorry," Riko said, adding a nervous laugh. She took the sheet from Koganei and began to read it. "Let's see, Kuroko Tetsuya…"**

 _Knew it,_ everyone thought.

 **Riko raised a brow as she read out the information on this mystery form. "I was here the whole time, but I don't remember him at all."**

"Really?" Takao blurted out. "At all? How is it even possible that he managed to sit in front of you, take the time to sign out a club request, leave it on the desk, and duck out of sight before you managed to notice he was even there?"

"Kuro-chin's lack of presence is beyond human comprehension," Murasakibara drawled, lazily crunching on a maiubo stick.

 **Riko took a closer look at the club request and saw in Kuroko's reason for applying, he had written 'Played for the Teiko Junior High School Basketball Club.' She narrowed her eyes to read the reason for applying again as if she didn't believe it herself. Hyuuga noticed her strange behavior.**

" **What's wrong?" he asked.**

" **H-He's from the Teiko basketball club!" she stammered. Hyuuga was surprised as well.**

" **Teiko? You mean** _ **the**_ **Teiko?" He took the paper from her to read it himself.**

The GoM were smirking to themselves at the high recognition of their former basketball club. While a lot of stuff did go down there, they did feel pretty proud to be part of that success for a little while.

" **Yeah!" said Riko. "And if he's a first-year, he must be from…"**

"Here it comes," Aomine said with a grin.

" **The Generation of Miracles!"**

"Yup, there it is-ssu," Kise laughed. "I can only imagine how you guys felt knowing that a Miracle just joined your team without you noticing."

"I'm technically not a Miracle," Kuroko pointed out.

"Well I mean come on Kuroko don't sell yourself _too_ short," Kagami said, clapping him on the back. "Considering the fact that we beat them all, that has to make you something, doesn't it?"

" **The Generation of Miracles…" Hyuuga echoed. "That famous group?"**

Kise flicked his hair and chuckled. "We try not to brag about it." Kasamatsu threw a cup at the back of his head.

"Pipe down in the front there."

 **Riko threw her head back and made a disgruntled noise.**

" **Why can't I remember that golden egg's face?!" she groaned in frustration. "And that guy just came back from America." The screen cut to Kagami walking through the crowd of students and Kuroko following close behind.**

" **This year's first-years could be ridiculous!" It showed a close-up of Kuroko's eyes on his book before they finally glanced upwards toward the camera.**

 _ **Episode 1: I am Kuroko**_

"Well, that was super dramatic," said Hayama.

"And what a weird title name," Tsuchida added. "There was so much drama that it's hard to believe were only like six minutes in."

"I wonder what they'll be showing us next," Kuroko wondered. Akashi nodded in agreement.

"I wonder too," he said. "I guess we'll be finding out right now."

 **The next scene cut straight to the basketball tryouts in the Seirin High gymnasium.**

" **All right!" Koganei announced. "Looks like all the first-years are here!"**

"Oh, it's tryouts," said Kagami. "That was one weird day for sure."

"Huh? Why?" Kise asked. Kagami was about to answer, but then sighed and shook his head.

"You'll see. Just watch."

 **The screen showed all the first-years lined up into two rows. It stopped on Furihata, who was nudging Kawahara on the side. The other first-year looked over at him, watching the brown-haired Point Guard lean in close to his ear.**

" **Hey," he whispered. "Isn't the manager cute?"**

Half of the room grunted in confusion while the other half stared at Furihata in disbelief. The poor boy was blushing at the way to his ears when he saw how many people were staring at him.

"W-Why are so many people looking at me?" he stammered.

"Well—no, it's just you're always super nervous when you're playing basketball," said Aomine. "So we assumed that you'd be ten times more nervous about girls."

"Yeah, I thought so too," Kasamatsu interjected. "Y'know, considering how much you looked like you wanted to cry went you went up against me in the Winter Cup."

"Didn't he faint at your birthday party, Kuroko?" Akashi asked the teal-haired boy sitting next to him.

"He did," Kuroko replied. "But that was after he saw you, Akashi-kun."

 **Kawahara looked over to Riko who was having a conversation with Izuki some distance away.**

" **She's a second-year, right?" Kawahara asked.**

" **If only she were a little sexier…"**

Now everyone in the room was mortified.

 _This is the true nature of the Chihuahua from Seirin?!_

A vein popped in Riko's forehead and she gripped Furihata's shirt so tightly his soul almost departed from his body.

"Oh Furihata-kun~," she said in sing-song. "I'm tripling your training menu tomorrow."

Kawahara and Fukuda looked on in pity. _Furi, Ganbatte!_

 **Suddenly a fist came out of nowhere, and both Furihata and Kawahara were knocked down by Hyuuga's punches.**

" **Morons. You're wrong," he said.**

Both Kawahara and Furihata were rubbing the back of their heads. Watching themselves get punched made it hurt all over again.

 **The two of them looked up at the approaching high school girl. "What?"**

 **Riko smiled. "I'm the boys' basketball club coach, Aida Riko. It's nice to meet you."**

" **What?!" all the first-years screamed in unison.**

Everyone in the room laughed.

"That must have been quite a shock," said Imayoshi. "Knowing that all of your intuitions were incorrect."

 **"It's not him?" Furihata said incredulously. He was pointing over to an old man sitting in the corner of the room.**

 **Riko gestured over to him. "That's our advisor, Takeda-sensei."**

 **The old man gave a very shaky smile as he looked up at all of them.**

"Why would you think that old gasbag would be your coach?" Aomine asked the first-years. Kuroko jabbed him in the side.

"Please have some respect for our advisor," he said offhandedly.

" **Seriously?" Kawahara said.**

" **You've got to be kidding me," Furihata sighed. Riko brushed them off like it was no big deal and began to pace around.**

" **Now that you're acquainted with Takeda-sensei, I'll have you guys first…"**

All the captains of each team leaned closer to the screen. Obviously, since Riko has proved herself to be the best coach, they wanted to listen in on what she was going to put them through, so they could use them in their own training regimens.

 **Riko turned around to face them with a serious expression.**

" **Take off your shirts!"**

The whole room fell silent as they stared at the screen with wide-eyes. Did she just tell them to take off their shirts?!

 **The first years stood there, confused. "Huh?"**

 **Processing…processing…processing…aaaaaand…**

" **WHAAAAAT?!" they all screamed. "WHY?!"**

"That's what we wanna know!" all the other teams shouted.

"What kind of school is this," Midorima said in horror.

"Kuroko, I wasn't aware your school had such ulterior motives…"

"Please don't joke like that, Akashi-kun."

 **Riko said nothing and just gave them a knowing smirk.**

 **The screen flashed to all of the first-years without shirts on, and Riko was surveying them all, walking back and forth between each student.**

" **You, you're not very explosive, are you?" she said to Fukuda. "I bet you can only do fifty side jumps in about twenty seconds, right? You'll need to do a little better for the basketball team." She moved onto the next first year and continued to make critical comments.**

Everyone who wasn't in Seirin blinked.

"That's amazing," Okamura said. "How is she able to tell?"

"Keep watching," said Hyuuga. "I think it's getting to the part where I explain it."

 **Fukuda looked shocked at her comments. "Seriously? She's right," he said.**

" **What do you mean?" Kawahara said.**

" **How'd she know just by looking at us?" Furihata asked. Hyuuga smiled.**

" **Her dad's a sport's trainer," he explained. The screen flashed to a young Riko, standing next to her father holding a clipboard as they both watched a man run on a treadmill in front of them.**

" **Collecting data and creating a training regimen. It's a skill she picked up from observing bodies and data every day at his workplace since she was a child. When she looks at your body, she sees all your physical abilities in numbers. I wouldn't expect anything less from a coach."**

All the team captains looked towards Riko in amazement. She blinked and looked away from the screen. "What are you guys looking at?"

 _We're not worthy… We're not worthy!_

 **The scene cut back to the gymnasium, where Riko was standing in front of Kagami with her eyes wide open and her mouth ajar.**

 **Kagami stared back. "What?"**

 _ **What…**_ **Riko thought.** _ **What is this? All his numbers are through the roof. These aren't the number of a first-year high school boy! I can't even see his potential.**_ **The screen showed the numbers Riko was seeing in her head, and they were all indeed very high.**

"Damn, check out those stats," said Takao. Kagami folded his arms and huffed in satisfaction.

 **It showed how shocked Riko was.** _ **This is the first time I've seen anyone like this.**_ **The camera panned over to Kagami's intense expression.** _ **Such raw talent!**_

"Alright damn, he's good, we get it!" Aomine grumbled. "Just show us Tetsu already before—"

"Before Kagami-kun's ego gets as big as yours?" Kuroko offered. Kagami snorted at Aomine's scandalized face as Kuroko held up a peace sign.

"Tetsu!"

" **Coach! What are you staring at?" Hyuuga called from the other side. Riko snapped herself out of her trance and stepped back.**

" **Sorry! Um…"**

" **You looked at all of them," said Hyuuga. "Kagami's the last one."**

 **Riko looked quizzically down at her clipboard. "Really?" She looked one more time and realized she had missed someone. "Is Kuroko-kun here?"**

" **Oh," said Hyuuga. "That kid from Teiko…"**

 **As whispers about Teiko were heard amongst the first-years, Riko was still confused.**

 _ **I thought I'd be able to pick out someone that strong when I saw him.**_

" **Looks like he's not here today."**

"Eh? Where's Tetsu-kun?" Momoi asked.

"Did you not show up to the tryouts?" Akashi asked him.

"I did," Kuroko said. Both Akashi and Momoi exchanged a look before finally understand what he meant. They now knew where this was going to go.

 **Riko raised a hand up in the air. "Alright! Let's get started with practice!"**

" **Um, Excuse me." A teal-haired boy came out of nowhere and stood in front of Riko, shocking her into speechlessness. "I am Kuroko."**

"Roll credits," Hayama joked.

The rest of the GoM looked at their shadow in amusement. He continued to sip on his milkshake like he had done nothing wrong.

 _Why is he like this,_ they all thought.

 **Riko's eyes went wide in horror as she took a deep breath and let out a blood-curdling scream that would make someone outside think she was being murdered. Hyuuga was pretty surprised as well.**

 **"What?" he said. "How long have you been there?"**

"I bet he'll say that he's been there the whole time," Midorima said.

" **I've been here the whole time," Kuroko answered.**

The whole room sweat-dropped. That really was Kuroko's trademark line, huh?

 **Riko was still staring at the boy in front of her.**

 _ **He was right in front of me and I didn't notice? What? Did he say he's Kuroko? What? He's practically invisible!**_

"At this point, what's new?" Wakamatsu muttered. Aomine was impressed.

"Geez, Tetsu," he said to his former shadow. "You really went all out that day, huh?"

 **Koganei and Hyuuga came running over to look at Kuroko.**

" **What?" Koganei said. "This guy was a part of the Generation of Miracles? He couldn't have been a regular, could he?"**

" **Of course not," Hyuuga replied. "Right, Kuroko-kun?"**

Everyone else looked at the offending second-years in horror.

 _They pulled no punches with their remarks!_

"Ah, my bad, Kuroko," Koganei said sheepishly, scratching the side of his cheek. "I didn't know how good you were."

"Same," said Hyuuga. "We're sorry." Kuroko smiled.

"It's all right. You guys were just confused." Hyuuga smiled.

"I'm glad… In that case, could you please call off your attackers?" He jerked a thumb to the Generation of Miracles who all were glaring at both him and Koganei. Kuroko turned to his colorful companions.

"It's fine guys," he reassured them. "He didn't mean to offend me." The GoM mellowed down and went back to watching with nonchalant expressions. Hyuuga and Koganei swallowed before trembling.

 _So freaking scary!_ They thought.

" **I played in games," Kuroko told them.**

" **Right?" Hyuuga laughed. Then he realized what he just said. "What?" Koganei just realized too.**

" **What?"**

" **WHAAAAT?!" they screamed.**

 **Kagami was watching this all go down from where he was standing.** _ **The Generation of Miracles? What's that?**_

"God bless my poor naïve self," Kagami sobbed. "I was so innocent, back before I knew who you assholes were…" The other teams watched as the GoM sent the Seirin ace withering looks.

 _He sure has been through a lot,_ they all thought.

 **Riko finally recovered from the shock and addressed Kuroko.**

" **T-Take off your shirt!"**

 **Kuroko seemed surprised but complied anyway. "What? Okay."**

 **He removed his shirt and stood in front of Riko as she looked at his body. The camera panned over to Riko's face, which changed from serious to completely baffled.**

"What? What happened?" Liu asked. "What did she say?"

"They'll probably explain in a minute," Mibuchi told him.

 **The scene went to Riko as she was taking the bus home from school. She was listening to music as she stared out of the window. In the window, her reflection transitioned to an image of Kuroko, with stats and numbers around his body. They were very low.**

 _ **Who is he?**_ **Riko thought to herself.** _ **His stats are way too low. All his numbers are below average. On top of that, he's already almost at his limit.**_

 **Her eyebrows furrowed as a frown formed on her face.**

 _ **There's no way he could have been a regular on such a strong team.**_

The GoM shifted their glares from Hyuuga and Koganei to Riko. She jolted.

"I'm sorry Kuroko-kun!" she cried. "I totally underestimated you!"

"They just keep roasting this kid in this episode," Nebuya commented. "I think they were worse with the insults than the other teams."

"It's okay, coach," Kuroko responded. "Everybody tends to underestimate me."

"It must be frustrating—"

"It makes it more fun to beat them."

Everyone stared at the Phantom Sixth Man with wide eyes.

 _That was kind of dark…_

 **The screen flashed to a basketball going into a hoop.** _ **What on earth…**_

 **The ball fell onto the court and bounced into Kagami's hands. After he had retrieved the ball, he dribbled it back down a few feet before jumping to shoot, that was when he noticed it.**

 **A strange figure was standing by the hoop, staring at him as he was aiming. It threw off his balance and caused him to mess up his shot. The basketball bounced off the rim and fell into the waiting arms of Kuroko Tetsuya. He impassively watched the redhead from where he was standing.**

" **You…" Kagami began. "When did you get here?"**

" **Nice to see you," Kuroko said.**

"Kuroko, were you watching him that whole time?" Kiyoshi asked. Kuroko glanced off to the side.

"Maybe."

"How are you gonna watch someone like that?" Takao said. "That scene looked like it came straight out of a horror movie! It even gave me the chills!"

"Tetsu's just like that," said Aomine. "He was like that in Teiko too. Most sightings of ghosts and hauntings in our school were really just Tetsu all along." Takao nodded.

"I guess that makes sense." They went back to watching but then Takao furrowed his brows in confusion. _Wait, did he just say 'most'?_

" **What the hell are you doing?" Kagami asked him.**

" **What are** _ **you**_ **doing here by yourself?" Kuroko retorted, throwing him the ball. Kagami caught it with ease.**

" **Nothing," he replied. "I'm not doing anything."**

" **Is that so?"**

 **There was an awkward silence.**

"Oh yeah, real chatty, Tetsu," Aomine said in a sarcastic tone. "You must be fun at parties."

 **Kagami broke the silence after a few moments. "I was in America until my second year of middle-school," he said. "I've been appalled ever since I came back by how low the standards are here. I'm not looking to play basketball for fun. I want to play a more serious game that really gets me going."**

Kagami knew he was done for when he heard low growls from behind him as his past self started bashing the entire country of Japan in front of their very eyes.

"Oh, so us Japanese aren't good enough for you, huh?" Miyaji said in a sickly-sweet tone of voice. "Kimura. _Pineapple._ "

"Kagami you bastard…" Aomine growled. "I swear I'll knock some sense into you." He was just about to stand up, but Akashi put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't start a fight," he said to Aomine. Kagami sighed a breath of relief.

"Thanks, Akashi. You really saved—"

"You forgot to let me deliver the first blow… _Daiki._ "

"GYAAAAH! AKASHICCHI SWITCHED PERSONALITIES AGAIN!"

"QUICK! SOMEONE HIDE ALL THE SHARP OBJECTS!"

"KAGAMI! RUN!"

 **The screen showed them standing at opposite sides of the half court as the wind blew.**

" **I heard all about you," he declared. "I've heard all about the supposedly strong Generation of Miracles from our year. You were on that team, weren't you? I have a pretty good sense of how good others are." He began spinning the ball on his finger. "People who can succeed smell different from the rest."**

The whole room suddenly burst out laughing at what Kagami just said on screen. The Seirin ace blinked in confusion.

"What is everyone laughing at all of a sudden?!"

"W-What the hell are you saying, Kagami?" Takao said in between his fit of giggles. "You can _smell_ when someone's successful? Do you just go around sniffing people all the time?"

"Kagami, why do you go around sniffing people?" Akashi said (Kise stopped restraining him when he heard his use of Kagami's family name indicating he had switched back). "I'm almost certain that's borderline harassment."

"He really is a Bakagami," Hyuuga sighed. Izuki laughed.

"Don't worry Hyuuga. I'm sure he nose what he's talking about."

"Izuki shut up."

"Taiga, that is by far the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say," Himuro said, shaking his head in amusement. "And I've heard you say a lot of dumb things."

"Alright! I get it! I'm an idiot!" Kagami exclaimed. "Can we please move on?!"

 **Kagami threw the ball over to Kuroko, who caught it. "But something's not right with you. The weak should smell weak, but you…" He paused. "You don't smell like anything. And your strength has no scent."**

"He's sitting near you right now," said Mayuzumi. "Why don't you see if he smells any different?"

"Kagami-kun if you even think about sniffing me I'm Ignite-Passing your face."

" **Let me see it," said Kagami. "Show me just how good your Generation of Miracles really is!"**

"News Flash: Tetsu is the wrong person to ask," said Aomine. Kagami huffed out a breath of air.

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" he mumbled.

 **Kuroko seemed to think it through for a moment before responding.**

" **How fortunate," he said. "I was hoping to play against you too." He began unzipping his school jacket before throwing it off his body.**

" **One-on-one."**

 **Kagami grinned. "You wanna go?"**

"He probably did, but he most definitely shouldn't have," said Midorima. The other teams looked at him in confusion. Just how bad was Kuroko back then?

 **The scene cut to Kagami dribbling the ball on the court on offense while Kuroko was on defense. They were both observing each other intently. Then, after some moments, Kagami drove forward. He jumped up to make a dunk when a hand weakly attempted to block the shot, despite being several feet below the ball. Kagami's eyes widened as he successfully made the shot, dunking over Kuroko's form.**

 _ **He's…**_

 **Kagami had the ball in possession again and easily dribbled by Kuroko. Then Kuroko had the ball in his hands in a different possession trying to do the same thing, but Kagami took the ball from him.**

 _ **He's…**_

 **Kuroko attempted to make a shot, but Kagami slapped the ball out of his hands without even moving a single step, and Kuroko ran to chase after the ball like a dog would to a toy.**

 _ **He's so bad I could die.**_

Most people in the room didn't know whether to laugh or cry. They didn't know he was that bad! The GoM were exceptionally mortified, and that was an understatement.

"This was how you played him, Kuroko?" Akashi said in disbelief.

"He told you to show him how strong we were and you accepted his challenge like that?!" Aomine exclaimed. "No wonder he thought that we sucked!"

"Kuroko, you knew at the time that you were unable to do one-on-ones, nanodayo," said Midorima. "Why did you initiate a challenge?" Kuroko shrugged.

"I wanted to see something," he said.

 _This Kuroko guy is crazy,_ all the other teams thought.

 **Kagami began thinking to himself again.** _ **Even though they weren't blessed with physical strength, there have been plenty of athletes who have excelled by polishing their skills. But this guy…**_ **He thought back to their recent one-on-one.** _ **He's hardly better than an amateur at dribbling and shooting.**_

 **He watched as Kuroko bent down to pick up the runaway basketball.** _ **He doesn't do anything well. This is ridiculous.**_

"Seirin is ridiculously savage when it comes to ridiculing other players," Kobori said. Everyone nodded.

"It's like you guys don't even have a filter," said Kise.

"That _was_ the filter!" Kagami cried out. "Why do you think I was thinking this stuff and not saying it?! How the hell was I supposed to know my thoughts would be invaded?! OW!"

He rubbed his side after Kuroko had violently jabbed it. "Kuroko what was that for?!"

"That was for dissing me so much in your head," Kuroko replied. "You should have had a little more faith in me."

"In my defense, I don't think anyone would have had faith in you after that one-on-one! OW! GODDAMMIT DON'T JAB ME AGAIN!"

 **Kuroko ran back over to Kagami and stopped just in front of him at the center of the court. Kagami continued to stand there.**

" **You've gotta be kidding me," he said. "Were you even listening?! How much do you have to overestimate your own abilities to think that you could beat me?!"**

Aomine whistled. "He sure is laying on thick, Tetsu," he observed.

While the GoM didn't appreciate Kagami yelling at Kuroko, if someone tried to play a one-on-one with them like that, they'd probably yell at that person too. So they let him be.

 **Kagami jabbed a finger at the teal-haired boy. "I can't believe how arrogantly you challenged me!" Kuroko blinked.**

" **You can't be serious," he said. "Of course you're stronger than me. I knew that before we started."**

 _Then why?!_ Everyone else thought.

 **Kagami suddenly grabbed Kuroko by the shirt and pulled him roughly towards him.**

" **You wanna fight?" he threatened. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kuroko looked particularly unfazed as he stared Kagami directly in the eyes.**

" **I wanted to see how good you are for myself."**

"Oh, that's why," everyone said.

" **What?" Kagami said. He let go of Kuroko's shirt with a confused expression. He held his head in his hand.**

 _ **Unbelievable,**_ **he thought.** _ **There must've been something wrong with me too. He's just so weak that he doesn't smell like anything. This is stupid.**_

"So is your success-sniffing method," Murasakibara pointed out.

 **Kuroko held the ball out to Kagami.**

" **Ano…" Kagami rejected the ball.**

" **Enough. I'm not interested in the weak," he said as he began to walk away.**

"What was that about having a filter, Kagamicchi?"

"Put a sock in it, Kise."

 **Kuroko watched as Kagami started to get his things together, grabbing his jacket from the bench.**

" **Let me tell you one last thing," Kagami said. "You should quit basketball. No matter how much you try to cover it up with nice words like 'effort', raw talent is a fact of life." The screen did a close-up on Kagami's face to show his utter disapproval.**

" **You have no talent for basketball."**

Everyone was practically glaring at Kagami.

"Woah, woah, woah, let me get this straight," said Aomine. "So this guy destroyed you in a one-on-one, gave you a verbal beat down, told you to quit basketball, essentially shit on your dreams, and you _still_ made him your light?! I swear to God Tetsu you'll just pick _anyone_ to play with!"

"Kagami-kun was much ruder than I remember," Kuroko replied. Everyone on either side of Kagami was giving dirty looks.

"Maybe the standards really _are_ low in Japan…" Tsuchida said.

"Kagami what would you have done if he really quit?" Furihata told him. "Our team would've been screwed! We wouldn't have even made it to the InterHigh!"

"Kagamin, how could you be so rude?!" Momoi scolded. "You didn't even know Tetsu-kun for a day!"

"I'm sorry!" Kagami yelled. "Why has everybody been bashing me tonight?!"

"Because you're a disrespectful idiot!" Riko shouted back.

 **After Kagami had finished talking, he turned around to leave when he heard a voice.**

" **I don't accept that," said Kuroko.**

"Finally, the shadow fights back," said Moriyama.

 **Kagami tilted his head. "What?" Kuroko was walking over to the bench.**

" **First of all, I love basketball. And also, I don't share your opinion." He looked over to Kagami.**

" **I don't care who's strong or who's weak." Kagami turned to him.**

" **What did you say?"**

" **I'm not like you," said Kuroko. The camera panned down to the court to show Kuroko's shadow on the ground. He stood there on the court, his expression grave.**

" **I'm a shadow."**

"So that's where that line comes from," Otsubo said in understanding.

"That's super philosophical, though," Takao commented. "Also, he gave no explanation to what he meant. So to Kagami, it probably just sounded like he was spouting nonsense."

"It kinda did, to be honest," Kagami said. "I thought about it for like two hours when I went home, and even then, it still made no fucking sense."

 **The next day, they were back in the Seirin gymnasium on the second day. All of them were scattered around the court.**

" **What? A mini-game?" Furihata said. All of the first-years were standing on one side wearing yellow jerseys.**

" **I can't believe we're playing the upperclassman already," Kawahara said, sounding like he was in awe. Fukuda turned to him.**

" **Do you remember their record from last year they told us about during the first meeting?" he told him. The screen panned over to the second-years in the blue jerseys, each either stretching or practicing shots. "They went to finals in just their first year."**

" **Are you serious?"**

" **That's not normal," Furihata replied.**

"After all the bullshit we've gone through this year, is anything really normal?" Kagami asked. Everyone shook their heads. That was a definite no.

 **Kagami smirked. "There's nothing to be afraid of," he said. "It's always better to have stronger opponents than weaker ones. Let's go."**

"Taiga, you actually said something good for once…"

"Stop sounding so surprised, Tatsuya! And don't put 'for once' at the end of your sentence!"

 **Riko smiled as she watched everyone assemble.** _ **Let's see exactly what these rookies can do.**_

"Hm? Nobody's marking Kuroko," Kiyoshi said in surprise. "Why is that?"

 _Because we underestimated him!_ The rest of Seirin thought.

 **Riko blew the whistle and threw the ball up in the air. As soon at the ball went in the air, Kagami and Mitobe jumped, but Kagami was able to get the ball first and pass it to Kawahara. Kawahara dribbled down the court and stopped when Koganei, Tsuchida, and Izuki tried to block him. He threw the ball over their heads to Kagami who was waiting on the other side. When Kagami landed on the ground, he didn't waste another second and dunked on Mitobe who was under the basket.**

"Brutal," Nebuya commented. The first-year trio smiled at Kagami.

"Nice dunk," they said. Kagami smiled back.

"Thanks."

 **The other players were looking on in shock.**

" **That dunk was unbelievable," Kawahara marveled. Furihata was gaping just as much.**

" **Amazing…"**

 **Riko was watching the game too and her eyes were wide from watching that play.**

 _ **He's better than I expected,**_ **she thought. Kagami was hanging off the hoop with one hand.** _ **Such destructive force for such unpolished intuitive play.**_ **Kagami let go of the rim and landed back on the court.**

 **Hyuuga grinned as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "This is unbelievable."** _ **He's more than ready. He's a real monster.**_

 **Kagami continued to make dunk after dunk, increasing his team's score to eleven points while the other team had eight.**

"There's no way that you can dunk that many time in a row without getting tired," Imayoshi said. "You really are a monster. This is exactly like Aomine. I wonder how the two of you do it."

"The answer is simple, nanodayo," Midorima replied. "They convert their natural stupidity into kinetic energy."

"Oi!"

"Midorima you bastard!"

 **Hyuuga, Izuki, and Koganei were stood on the court as they looked at the score.**

" **I can't believe the first-years are this strong," said Hyuuga. Koganei was panting next to him.**

" **Kagami's doing it all by himself!" he said.**

"Oh yeah," Kagami said. "I'm a lean, mean, basketball machine."

 **The camera panned over to a very agitated Kagami, who looked like he could bite someone's head off at the moment.**

 _ **Shit! That kid still has me on edge!**_

 **The 'kid' he was referring to was Kuroko, who had the ball in his possession and was looking around as if he didn't know what to do. It wasn't long before Izuki came by and smacked the ball out of his hands and passed to Koganei.**

" **A steal?" Furihata exclaimed.**

The GoM sighed wearily.

"Kurokocchi, why were you holding the ball-ssu?" he asked him. "You know your Misdirection doesn't work that way."

"They said something about me not participating," Kuroko began. "So they made me take it on the next possession."

" **It's him again!" Furihata groaned. It was easy to tell he was slightly annoyed. "Keep it together!"**

"I've never been more scared for this guy in my entire life," Takao said. "How did they not punch him already?! I know I would have."

 **Kagami watched Kuroko as he was running alongside the rest of the players. He still looked agitated.**

 _ **For all the profound things he says, he can't play for shit! Guys who are all talk…**_ **Koganei passed to Mitobe who attempted to make a shot. But just as he was about to make it, Kagami stole the ball last second.**

 _ **Piss me off more than anything!**_

"You really are pissing a lot of people off in this episode," Mayuzumi offhandedly commented. "Are you okay?"

"It's fine," said Kuroko. "This tends to happen a lot. I confused a lot of people back in Teiko too."

"Except me," Akashi reminded him. Kuroko smiled.

"Of course. Except for Akashi-kun."

" **So high!" Fukuda said in amazement. Kawahara was just as impressed.**

" **Nothing can stop Kagami now!"**

 **Kagami landed and let out a low growl. Riko blew the whistle to signal half-time. The scene then shifted to Hyuuga and Izuki smirking confidently.**

" **Time to put them in their place." Izuki nodded.**

" **It's on."**

"It's time for us to shine!" Koganei said excitedly from his seat. Mitobe nodded.

 **In the next scene, Hyuuga, Izuki, and Koganei were surrounding Kagami who had the ball.**

 _ **Three?!**_ **Kagami exclaimed in his head. He looked around. He made one step in one direction, but Hyuuga was already trying to block him. Kagami growled again.**

" **They're desperate to stop Kagami!" Kawahara said to his other teammates. Fukuda agreed.**

" **They're double-teaming him even though he doesn't have the ball!" Izuki and Koganei came to block the redhead. "They have no intention of letting him touch the ball!"**

Kagami rubbed the back of his neck.

"Man," he said. "It must be a real pain in the ass to mark me."

"We know," all the other teams said.

 **After they blocked Kagami the other team began to rack up points, the second years making shot after shot, doing steals, and most importantly, preventing Kagami from touching the ball. By the end of the quarter, the second-years had doubled their score. Fifteen to thirty-one.**

 _What happened?_ Everyone except Seirin wondered.

 **The first-year trio was panting as they stood on the court, all with put out expressions.**

" **They're good," said Fukuda.**

" **There's no way we can win," Kawahara added. Furihata had reached his limit too.**

" **I've had enough," he said. Out of nowhere, Kagami grabs his shirt and yanks the boy towards him, his face screaming 'pissed off'.**

"' **Enough'?" Kagami said angrily. He began shaking Furihata in his hold. "What the hell are you talking about?!"**

"Jesus Christ you had anger issues!" Fukui shouted to the Seirin ace. "Why do you always have to grab people when you're angry?"

"Kagami-kun was a bully," Kuroko said. Kagami jolted in his seat.

"I didn't bully anyone!" he cried. "I was pissed off, okay?!"

 **Kuroko stepped behind Kagami and used his knees to hit the back of Kagami's own, causing the American transfer to be stunned momentarily, releasing his grip on Furihata.**

" **Please calm down," he said.**

The whole room started laughing.

 **Kagami turned around, a vein popping on the side of his face and he gave a death stare to Kuroko.**

" **You bastard…"**

 **The other first-years gasped in horror.**

Everyone laughed harder as Aomine and Kise high-fived their former shadow. Kagami was sulking on the couch.

" **Looks like they're fighting," Koganei sighed as him and Izuki watched from the side. Izuki furrowed his eyebrows and looked closer at the scene.**

" **What's wrong?" Koganei asked him. Izuki looked over to the group of panicking first-years and watched as Kuroko dodged Kagami's punches.**

" **Was he in the game?"**

" **Kuroko? I dunno."**

 **Riko sweat-dropped from the side.** _ **Even I forgot, and I was the referee.**_ **Suddenly she furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at Kuroko and registered what she just said.**

 _ **Huh? How long has he been in?**_

Every team apart from Seirin was gaping at the screen. How non-existent was his presence that even the referee forgot he was there?

 **Once the game had resumed, Fukuda was dribbling the ball behind Kuroko, who was flexing the fingers on his hands.**

" **Excuse me," he said. "Could you just pass me the ball?" Fukuda raised a brow.**

" **What?"**

"Finally!" Everyone shouted. They had been waiting for the whole damn episode just to see Kuroko in action.

 **Some first-years were standing by the side rooting for their teammates.**

" **You can do it! Three more minutes!"**

"Who the hell are those guys?" Aomine asked. Seirin shrugged.

"Dunno," Kagami replied. "They're just some guys who didn't make the cut."

"Lucky them," Kasamatsu sighed, folding his arms. "They managed to avoid the shitstorm that was the InterHigh and Winter Cup."

 **Fukuda was sweating as he dribbled down the court, Tsuchida marking him.**

 _ **What can you do with the ball once you get it? At least don't let them take it.**_

 **He passed the ball over to Kuroko and Kuroko looked behind him to the nearest teammate. Just like that, the ball flew all the way over to the other side of the court and over to Furihata, who caught it and made the shot. The rest of the court stood baffled.**

"There it is!" Kise chirped. "Kurokocchi's signature playstyle!"

"It's about time you did something, Kuro-chin," Murasakibara said. "I almost thought we were gonna watch this whole episode without you using your Misdirection." Kuroko bowed his head in apology.

"I'm sorry for taking so long."

 **The second years watched with puzzled expressions as Furihata made the shot.**

" **It went…what? How did that pass get through?" Hyuuga said, shakily adjusting his glasses.**

 **Riko stared at the court with wide eyes.** _ **Why do I feel so uneasy?**_ **She thought to herself.** _ **Is something unbelievable happening?**_

"There better be," said Hayama. "Otherwise there's no point in watching the rest of the mini-game."

 **Kuroko looked knowingly to the other second-years. Riko's expression only became more shocked.**

 **Kawahara had the ball next and while he was holding it away from Koganei, he looked over to see that Kuroko had his hands out, signaling to him that he was open. Kawahara understood and immediately passed the ball. It went over to Kuroko, but as the view of him was shielded by someone standing in the way, all anyone could see was the ball spinning in the opposite direction. Fukuda caught the ball and everyone in his vicinity were surprised again, even Fukuda himself. He looked down at the ball for a quick moment.**

" **Go for it! Shoot!" Kagami exclaimed. And that's just what he did. Fukuda shot the ball and it bounced off the backboard before swishing cleanly through the hoop.**

 **Pass after pass was flying around the court, confusing all the players. It went behind people's backs, right past their faces, even between their legs, and every single time, it threw the second-years off guard.**

"Now things are starting to look up," Kiyoshi said. "What an interesting match! I wish I could have played." The other teams had completely forgotten that Kiyoshi didn't play until after the InterHigh. So everything up until then he wouldn't know about.

" **They made the shot before we realized it!" said Izuki.**

" **What's going on?" said Koganei.**

 **The scene went back to one of Kuroko's passes, except they faded out the person blocking the view so you could clearly see what he was doing. When the ball came toward him, Kuroko used his hand to spin it in the other direction.**

"That's incredible how they were able to use effects like this," Sakurai commented. "Whoever made this anime knew what they were doing."

Everyone agreed. These game sequences were portrayed better than ever in this anime. What with the music and the added sound effects, it made it even more exciting to watch.

 _ **Is he using his lack of presence to pass?**_ **Riko thought as she watched the game.** _ **He's not even touching the ball for very long! Could he be diminishing his already weak presence even more?**_

 **The scene changed and the screen highlighted the ball coming at Kuroko in slow motion as Riko continued her narrative.**

 _ **Misdirection. A technique used in sleight of hand tricks. He's drawing his opponent's attention away from himself. To be more accurate, he's not using his lack of presence, but directing his opponent's attention elsewhere.**_

Everyone was officially impressed.

"I can't believe she got it so quickly," Himuro said.

"That's Seirin for you," Akashi responded. "Aida-san, you're very observant." Riko blushed as she began giggling at his compliment.

"Oh stop it, you. Flattery will get you everywhere, Akashi-kun."

 **The screen flashed to Kuroko with his back to the camera, looking out of an open door.**

 _ **He's the invisible regular at Teiko who excelled in passing. I heard rumors but I didn't think he actually existed.**_

"Join the club," said everyone else.

 _ **The phantom sixth member of the Generation of Miracles!**_

 **Kuroko continued to pass back and forth between teammates still throwing the other team off guard. Hyuuga was running on the court, getting into position.**

 _ **Dammit. I got caught up in Kuroko's passing!**_

"Don't we all," said Kise.

 **Kagami jumped for another shot which bounced off the backboard and sunk through the net. They looked back at the score and saw that it was first-years with thirty-six points and second-years with thirty-seven.**

" **Uwaaah! I don't believe it! It's a one-point difference!" someone shouted.**

"You guys caught up quickly," said Liu.

 **Koganei was looking for who to pass to before settling on Mitobe. But the second he passed, Fukuda slapped the ball in the other direction and the ball bounced away. They almost lost it, if it weren't for Kuroko catching it just in time.**

" **Crap!" Hyuuga shouted. Furihata cheered him on as the teal-haired boy dribbled down the court.**

" **Go Kuroko!"**

"So cool!" Momoi squealed. "Is Tetsu-kun going to make the winning shot?" Seirin sweat-dropped.

 _If only that was what happened…_

 **Everyone watched with bated breath as Kuroko ran down the court. He reached the basket and jumped for the shot…but then he missed, leaving the first-years to look on in horror.**

"You fucking missed?!" Wakamatsu yelled. Everyone in the room was either groaning or facepalming. The GoM were the most shocked.

"Kurokocchi…maybe you should have passed…"

"Tetsu…"

"That shot was doomed from the start, nanodayo."

"T-Tetsu-kun, you should probably follow Ki-chan's advice next time."

"Kuro-chin, why would you do that?"

"Kuroko…if you're going to miss the shot, at least have the decency to miss when the outcome of the match doesn't rely on whether you make it or not."

"Don't worry," Kagami assured them. "It gets better."

 **Before the ball hit the ground, Kagami jumped up and grabbed it.**

" **That's why I hate the weak!" He dunked the ball through the hoop with extra force, ensuring that it went in.**

" **You have to make the shot, dumbass!"**

 **Kuroko was smiling from underneath him.**

"There we go!" said Takao. "Kagami has officially redeemed himself from the beginning of the episode!" The whole room clapped on his behalf.

 **After the game, the scene time-jumped to the evening, the screen showing the outside of Maji Burger.**

"Doesn't that bring back memories," said Aomine. The rest of the GoM had nostalgic looks on their faces, remembering their usual hangout spot after school.

 **An employee was giving a polite bow to someone in line.**

" **Thank you very much!" she said. The person turned around and revealed himself. It was Kagami, and he was holding a tray covered in a mountain of burgers.**

"Why am I not even surprised?" said Himuro. "You can be such a glutton sometimes, Taiga."

"No more than Aomine," said Midorima.

 **Once Kagami had his food, he went over to sit at a table and unwrapped one of the burgers. It was only when he bit into the burger that he realized he wasn't alone. Sitting across from him on the table was none other than Kuroko, sipping a milkshake. He was so surprised that he almost choked.**

Everyone laughed, especially Seirin, which annoyed Kagami even more.

"It's not funny!" he said. "I really did almost choke that time!"

"You should've choked then," Aomine retorted. "One less opponent to face in the championships."

"You bastard!"

" **Hello," Kuroko greeted. Kagami swallowed his food.**

" **Where'd you come from?!" he gasped. "What are you doing?"**

" **I was sitting here first," Kuroko replied. "I like this place's vanilla shakes."**

"How long has he liked those?" Mibuchi asked.

"Always," the GoM replied.

"Unless you offer him a burger that's all he orders," Aomine added. The others were taken aback. That was it? How long could a vanilla shake hold him for?

 **Kagami smirked. "Go somewhere else."**

" **I don't want to," Kuroko stated.**

"Are you first-years sure you're not being bullied? You can come to me if you are."

"Kiyoshi-senpai I told you I'm not bullying anyone!"

" **If someone sees us, they'll think we're friends!" Kagami said in exasperation.**

"We are friends," said Kuroko.

"And you know damn well nobody can see him," said Miyaji.

" **This is my usual hangout," said Kuroko. Kagami sighed in defeat. He had a feeling Kuroko wasn't going anywhere. He took one of his burgers and held it out to Kuroko.**

" **Here," he said, tossing it over. Kuroko caught it and looked at him questioningly. Kagami just looked out the window.**

" **I don't like guys who suck at basketball," he began. "But you've earned yourself one of those." Kuroko looked down at the burger, up at Kagami, then smiled.**

" **Thanks."**

"So after you bullied him for two days straight he finally gets the treatment he deserves," Imayoshi said with a grin. "How touching." A few people snickered when they saw how angry Kagami was getting.

 **The scene cut to them walking outside on the street at night.**

" **Just how strong is the Generation of Miracles?" Kagami asked as he walked alongside Kuroko. "If I played them now, how would I do?" Kuroko gave him a deadpan expression.**

" **You'd be destroyed instantly." Kagami got visibly agitated.**

" **Do you have to put it like that?"**

"I see you're blunt as ever, Kuroko," Akashi commented as everyone else laughed. Kuroko shrugged.

"It just had to be said."

 **Kuroko remained unfazed as they continued their walk. "The five prodigies have each gone on to play for their own schools. One of those school will stand the top."**

"Plot twist: none of them do," Kagami said in a smug voice. "We actually defeat them all."

"Don't get so cocky, Hops McGee," Aomine retorted, kicking him in the side. "You guys won by one-point games each and every time."

"He's got a point," said Izuki.

"Yeah," Hyuuga chimed. "If any of those games went into overtime they would've kicked our asses."

"True," said Kuroko. Mitobe nodded as well. Kagami looked at his team in horror.

"Don't agree with the enemy!"

 **Kagami laughed at Kuroko's words, almost like he was excited.**

" **That's great," he said. "That's the kind of thing that lights a fire in me." The camera did a close-up on his face as his expression changed to one of determination.**

" **I've decided," he said. "I'll crush all of them and become the best player in Japan."**

Everyone watching finally understood. _So this was where it started…_

 **Kuroko eyed him as he continued to sip his milkshake.**

" **I don't think that's possible." Kagami immediately got pissed off.**

" **HEY!"**

The whole room started laughing at Kagami's reaction.

"Man," Takao laughed, clapping Kuroko on the shoulder. "You really don't mince your words, do you?"

"Kuroko is the sassiest out of everyone," Otsubo observed.

" **I don't know if you have a hidden talent or not," Kuroko began. "But from what I've seen, you wouldn't even reach their feet. You can't do it alone."**

The GoM were surprised. At that point in time, Kuroko was still mad at all of them for what happened in Teiko. But even so, he still thought extremely high of them and respected their talent. That made them all feel slightly satisfied.

 **Kuroko and Kagami crossed to the other side of the street.**

" **I've also decided," Kuroko announced. Kagami grunted in confusion.**

" **I'm a shadow," Kuroko said. "But the stronger the light, the darker the shadow and the more it accentuates the light."**

The whole room was quiet at this. The fact that the streetlights accentuated the lighting around them to make the scene more symbolic was astounding.

 **Kuroko looked up at Kagami with an expression of equal determination. "I will be the shadow to your light and make you the best player in Japan."**

 **Kagami was taken aback at his words, but he smirked and returned his expression.**

" **Look who's talking," he said. "Do whatever you want." Kuroko smiled.**

" **I'll do my best."**

 **The camera went out of focus, the screen fading to black as the music died down. When the last note of music played, the screen had gone completely black and then the ending song had begun to play.**

Koganei blinked. "Eh? Was that the end?"

"It would appear so," Akashi replied. "That was indeed an interesting episode." Everyone nodded.

"At first, I thought the idea was kinda stupid," said Takao. "But maybe watching this anime series wouldn't be so bad after all!"

"It's true," said Kuroko. "I think everyone would enjoy it."

Akashi watched as murmurs of agreement were heard around the room. He exchanged looks with Kuroko, who gave him a small smile. He looked around the large room.

"If that's the case, then can I have a show of hands who would like to watch episode two?"

Every single hand went up in the air, much to his surprise. He raised his eyebrows in bewilderment, but seeing how committed everyone was to continuing, he chuckled.

"No objections again, huh?" he said. He turned back to Kuroko. "Are you alright with us continuing? Technically it's your anime."

"I want to watch episode two with everyone," said Kuroko. "Let's keep going." Akashi smiled.

"Then let's not waste any time," he said. "We'll go straight into the next episode."

"Yeah!"

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! How did my attempt at their reactions go? Did I capture them well? Is it entertaining enough? I'd love to hear your feedback! Anyway I'm going to bed I'm seriously on the verge of death here. Next time is episode 2! Until my next update, you know what to do...**

 **Read and review please!**


	3. Episode 2- I'm Serious

**OH MY GOD I'M SO TIRED.**

 **Hi! I'm back again at 3 a.m. and once I post this I'm going to curl up into a ball and die. Any potential grammar or general mistakes in here will be fixed when I wake up. Thank you for your patience!**

 **I first off want to greatly thank you all for the positive response I've gotten out of this. I've never gotten this many favorites and follows in such a short time before, so I'm really excited! Now to address some reviews:**

 **To agirlwithgoodergrammar: I'm on it with Midorima and Murasakibara. Thanks for the feedback! *scribbles notes down***

 **To Sadihime: I KNOW YOU! I read your story 'Forget Me Not' and loved it! I think I may have left a review but if not, I most definitely will now. If you have time, please check out my other stories! I'd love for you to read them and see if I'm doing a good job characterizing the good old Emperor! And I will be doing the OVAs, by the way. Those are staying, I'm adamant on keeping them.**

 **To avaize: WOW YOUR REVIEW IS SUPER LONG THANK YOU. And yeah, R.I.P. Akashi man, I can't wait to get to that part of the series where they show his backstory and how everyone reacts to it (even though it's a long ways away). He's my all time fave so I won't be messing that part up!**

 **As to everyone else, thank you very much for the reviews!**

 **ONE THING TO MENTION BEFORE I START THOUGH:**

 **It has come to my attention that a few people think that Akashi is a little OOC here because he's talkative now. I mean, yeah, he's a reserved character in the anime, but if any of you have watched the 3rd fandisc, he literally calls the GoM together just to talk. Not to mention he is way more expressive than he used be, and he's also SUPER smiley. It may seem OOC, but he's actually making more efforts to talk now in the official content. Watch the fandisc and you'll understand what I mean.**

 **Although in light of these comments, I will most definitely not ignore them, and so for the sake of his character, I have turned it down a notch for him. If any of you think I could work a little on characterization for any main characters, do tell me! This is all about making this an enjoyable read for you guys so I don't want to disappoint!**

 **Anyway this blurb is long as fuck so I'm gonna jump in right now. So without further ado...**

 **Please enjoy!**

* * *

Episode 2- I am Serious

Deciding that they would roll right into the next episode, Akashi let the DVD continue to play and went to sit back down with everyone else. This series had proven to be not only entertaining but insightful as well. It gave the other schools the chance to see where Seirin's victory started, but it also gave Seirin a chance to look back at that success as well and the steps they took along the way to get there.

"I hope this next episode is as entertaining as the last," said Takao. "I don't think I've laughed that hard in a while."

"Well," said Kuroko. "It would depend on what they show us, Takao-kun."

"Something that _doesn't_ paint me as the bad guy would be great," Kagami interjected. "I'm still recoiling from how many things have been whacked across the back of my head!"

"Well maybe if you weren't being an idiot and dissing Tetsu, this wouldn't have happened," Aomine told him. "You know what they say: talk shit, get hit."

"Well then I can't wait to see how many times they hit _you_ later when it shows your backstory with Kuroko, Ahomine."

Aomine faltered. He completely forgot about what happened in middle school. This anime has already proven to be extremely intrusive, so it's only a matter of time before they divulge into what happened at Teiko. It would be stupid to say that he shouldn't expect it. He looked at all the other Generation of Miracles who were busy preoccupied with watching the opening. If they do talk about Teiko—which he knew they would—they would end up talking about all of them, right? How everyone's talents began to bloom, when there started to become disorder within the team, and when they started toying with their opponents. He gulped.

He might be screwed later on...

"Aomine-kun, are you alright?"

Aomine looked up with a start to see those familiar baby blue eyes looking up at him. He stared back, almost lost in them for a minute, but then looked away.

"It's nothing," he said. "I'm fine." Kuroko blinked once, then tilted his head to the side.

"Is that so?" he said. "If you say so."

Aomine silently lets out a breath of relief before going back to watching the opening as it was just concluding, not noticing Kuroko glancing back to him before narrowing his eyes a bit.

 **After a short recap of the previous episode, it flashes to the outdoor basketball court, where a ball was aimed at the basket, but bounced off the rim and missed.**

"Who's outside practicing this time?" Miyaji asked.

"I bet it's Kagami!" Koganei guessed. "Am I right? Am I?"

 **When the ball bounced off the rim and fell, Kagami went to go and retrieve it, grabbing the ball and performing a lay-up, successfully getting it in on the second try.**

"I knew it! I was him!" Koganei exclaimed.

"You really don't do anything but basketball when you're not in class," said Fukui. "Isn't there _anything_ else you do with your free time?" Kagami scratched his head.

"Uh, no… I don't think so," he said. "Basketball's really all I think of."

"Do any of you Miracles spend all your free time doing basketball?"

"I usually read books," Kuroko replied.

"I model in my free time-ssu!" Kise chirped. "My new photo book is coming out soon too if you wanna—"

"I tend to play a lot of chess or shogi, nanodayo."

"I was ignored?!"

"Hobbies? I dunno," Aomine said, shrugging his shoulders. "Does looking at porn count?"

"I look for new snack shops to shop at," Murasakibara drawled. "There's this one near my house that sells a special flavor of nerunerunerune~." Akashi hummed in thought.

"Well if hobbies are what we're talking about, then I do play a lot of shogi. Also, I tend to go horseback riding on my days off." Half the room squints at Akashi. Riding horses was a big jump from a simple game of shogi…

 **As Kagami continued to dribble the ball, the screen showed his grinning face. Continuing to bounce the ball up and down, he began to remember his conversation with Kuroko before.**

" _ **Just how strong is the Generation of Miracles?"**_

 **He shot the ball as a flashback appeared on the screen of them walking down the street.**

" _ **If I played them now, how would I do?"**_ **Kuroko stopped sipping his milkshake and gave him a deadpan expression.**

" _ **You'd be destroyed instantly."**_

A few people snickered. Kagami grunted in annoyance.

"It's not that funny!" he growled. Takao clapped him on the shoulder.

"Dude, it will _always_ be funny."

 **The basketball swished through the net and Kagami caught it before going back to his original position.**

" _ **The five prodigies have each gone on to play for their own schools."**_

" _ **I've decided. I'll crush all of them and become Japan's best player."**_

 **He jumped for another shot and it went in. It flashed back to the previous night once more. Kuroko was standing in front of him near the street lights.**

" _ **I've also decided," he said. "I will be the shadow to your light and make you the best player in Japan."**_

 **Kagami began running with the ball and laughing at the thought of this.**

 _ **Oh man. I'm so excited I can't sit still.**_

"Kagami-kun is like a little kid," Kuroko commented. Kagami shot a look towards his shadow.

"I am not!" he retorted. Himuro laughed as he listened to their banter.

"He's been like this since we were kids," he told Kuroko. "Every time a hard basketball match was coming up, he'd always get excited to the point of losing sleep."

"Yep," Hyuuga sighed. "That sounds like our Bakagami alright."

"How come you guys always complain about me being excited all the time?" Kise said. "Kagamicchi seems just as excited-ssu."

"That doesn't mean that it's not annoying coming out of your mouth," Kasamatsu said from behind him. "Quit moving around, you're blocking the TV."

 **Kagami jumped for one more shot, and the close-up on his face** **showed just how excited he was.**

 _ **I don't care if it's not an official match,**_ **Kagami thought to himself.** _ **I just wanna play them!**_

 **Episode 2: I'm serious**

"What with the title again?" Fukuda muttered. "We've just barely gotten into the second episode but I feel like this anime is going to have some weird titles."

"Maybe it's because someone says it in the episode," Furihata offers up. "They did that in the first one."

"I wonder who's the serious one," Kawahara wonders aloud.

"We'll probably find out soon," Kiyoshi tells them. "I bet we're gonna see another game."

 **The scene cuts to Seirin High School in the middle of the school day.**

" **A game?" Hyuuga says, Kagami standing in front of him in the hallway. "You can't play yet."**

 **Kagami's mouth flies open like he's catching flies. "Wha-What?"**

"I guess not," said Fukui. A handful of people laughed at Kagami's reaction.

"If there's one thing this anime is doing right," said Liu "It's betraying our expectations."

"I second that notion," Wakamatsu chimed, holding his hand up in agreement.

" **Why, captain?" Kagami asked. "How am I not good enough?"**

"Well for starters if you looked at your attitude," Miyaji pointed out. "That should explain a lot."

Kagami grumbled something under his breath as he folded his arms.

" **You're still a trial member," Hyuuga calmly explained to the raging first-year. "You're not an official member." Kagami blinked.**

" **Huh?"**

 **The next scene cut to a PSP loading a video game, showing several basketball players and their stats.**

" **I knew you had potential," Riko said, looking at all the different players.**

"Oh! I have that game!" Takao said, excitingly pointing to the screen. "Aida-san, you should bring out your console tomorrow after practice. I wanna see your players' stats!"

"Heh, bring it on, Hawk Eye," Riko said smugly. "They're probably better than yours."

"You guys are so lucky!" Hayama said. "You're allowed to bring your consoles into class. Our school would just confiscate it."

"And that's why I'm not in Rakuzan," Aomine sneered.

"As if you had a chance, nodayo," said Midorima. "The only reason you don't go to Rakuzan is because your grades are abysmal."

"Oi!"

 **Riko finally put her console down and looked dreamily off into space.**

 **"Nothing beats cultivating talent," she sighed and began to take a long sip of the milk she was drinking. Suddenly brisk footsteps came out of nowhere and two hands slammed onto her desk.**

" **Coach!"**

 **Riko spits out her drink onto the face of an unsuspecting Kagami.**

Everyone laughed. Kagami scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, sorry for surprising you." Riko laughed awkwardly, waving a hand in dismissal.

"That's okay," she said. "Sorry for doing a spit-take on your face."

 **Kagami wiped the milk off his face with his sleeve.**

" **Coach," he said. "Give me an official club membership form."**

"What, no please?" Mibuchi said. "You should be using Keigo in the presence of your senpai, Kagami-kun."

"Don't worry, Mibuchi-san," Kuroko assures him. "He grew into it eventually."

" **What is it with today?" Riko muttered, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "You too?"**

 **Kagami was confused. "Too?"**

 **A flashback showed Riko happily sipping her milk until she heard a voice out of nowhere.**

" _ **I'd like an official club membership form."**_

 **She turned to her side and found Kuroko who was standing there like he had materialized out of nowhere, surprising her so badly that she spat her drink out.**

Everyone laughed once more at her ridiculous reaction.

"You first years are a handful," Riko said. "At least Kuroko-kun was nice about it. Take notes, Kagami-kun."

"Hey!"

 **The flashback ended and Kagami looked off to the side. "That bastard," he grumbled.**

"I thought you guys were cool from the last episode," said Nebuya. "You _still_ hated him?"

"I don't even know anymore!" Kagami cried. "Just leave me alone!"

 **Riko looked to Kagami in exasperation. "Just how impatient are you rascals?"**

" **What'd you call me?"**

"I believe the term was 'rascals'," Akashi repeated. Kagami face-palmed.

"I didn't—I know what she said," Kagami sighed. "In fact, I don't even know why I bother explaining myself anymore."

"She wasn't wrong, though," Kimura said. Otsubo nodded in agreement.

"Our first-years our rascals too."

" **Well, both of you have potential," Riko said to Kagami. "And we've got room on the bench, so we'd be happy to have you." She handed him a form and he eagerly took it, grinning in the process.**

" **Now I can play in a game, right?" Now that he had the form, he turned and started heading for the door, but Riko held a hand out to stop him.**

" **Hold it right there."**

 **Kagami stopped and turned around. Riko was smiling at him as she pointed upwards.**

" **I'll only accept your form on Monday at 8:40 on the roof." Kagami's eyebrows furrowed and he blinked in confusion.**

" **Hm?"**

Every other rival team was just as confused as Kagami was in the episode. "That's a weird rule I've never heard of," said Moriyama. "Why did you do that?" The members of Seirin looked at each other knowingly.

"Oh, don't worry," said Tsuchida. "You'll find out soon enough."

 **The next scene cut to Kagami walking down the hallway in school before passing by a bulletin board. He saw a poster that caught his eye and stopped to take a closer look at it. It was a poster of Hyuuga making a shot against an opposing team and it was titled "Men's Basketball Rookie Game 'Kanto Tournament Debut!'"**

"Hey! How come it's just Hyuuga in the poster?" Izuki complained.

"Because I look the coolest," said Hyuuga. "Obviously they had to take a shot while I was taking a shot."

Izuki's eyes widened as he stared over at the glasses-wearing captain. "Hyuuga…did you just make an accidental pun?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't—" He paused for a second to think about what he had said. "Oh Goddammit…"

"Hyuuga!"

"IZUKI SHUT UP."

 **Kagami eyed the poster with some fascination. "He wasn't kidding," he said.**

" **Yes, they're strong."**

 **Kagami jolted and realized that Kuroko was standing right next to him. And his reaction was so loud that everyone else in the room heard it.**

" **WHY CAN'T YOU SHOW UP NORMALLY?! STOP COMING OUT OF NOWHERE!"**

The whole room laughed at Kagami's surprise. Mayuzumi shook his head.

"You guys must have to deal with him coming out of nowhere a lot." Seirin sweat-dropped.

"It's a common occurrence," they said.

 **Kuroko put a finger to his lips and shushed him, pointing up to a sign above them that said 'Library'. Kagami instantly grabbed at his head, looking ready to punch him.**

" **You making fun of me? You're making fun of me, aren't you?"**

" **No."**

The whole room laughed harder.

"I'm seriously surprised Kagami hasn't punched this guy yet," said Takao.

"And only Kagami would think someone's making fun of him when they shush him outside of a library," said Aomine.

"Also Kagamin, stop manhandling Tetsu-kun!" Momoi said to the Seirin Ace. "You'll really hurt him if you keep grabbing his head like that!"

 **Kagami finally released Kuroko from his grip and the Phantom Sixth Man began to rub his head.**

" **That hurt."**

 _ **I don't believe it,**_ **Kagami thought.** _ **How could anyone call an invisible guy like him the sixth phantom member?**_

"Did you not remember our first mini-game?" Kuroko asked. "I'm a passing specialist. We've been through this, Kagami-kun."

"Perhaps he was still in shock," said Akashi. "It took a while for the first-stringers to get used to you in Teiko as well."

"O(ur) (t)eam was pre(tty) (sho)cked too!" said Hayakawa. Everyone looked at him in question. Kasamatsu heaved a sigh.

"For the last time, you make no sense when you talk," he said to his teammate. He turned to everyone else. "Basically, he said that our team was also shocked from Kuroko."

"I think everyone's team was pretty shocked," said Sakurai. "Even in our second game against Seirin, we were still being taken by surprise."

Everyone in the room nodded. That was something they could agree on.

 **Kagami turned back to look at Kuroko.** _ **How did that happen anyway? The rest of the Generation of Miracles all went on to play for strong schools…**_

 _ **Why didn't he go with them?**_

Everyone who didn't know their backstory was interested to hear the answer, so they leaned forward to listen closely, hoping to get some more information.

 **Kagami shut his eyes for a moment and sighed before opening them once more.**

" **Hey, Kuroko."**

 **Kuroko was gone.**

The whole room started laughing again. The members of Seirin were shaking their heads in exasperation at the interactions of the light/shadow duo.

"Kuroko-kun, you gotta stop leaving people hanging like that," said Kobori.

"Every time we think we're about to find something out, Kuroko-kun just disappears," Mibuchi sighed. "I feel like this is going to be a very common pattern."

 **The scene cut to the outside of Riko's dad's gym again.**

" **You're doing it again this year?" Riko's dad was looking at her as he stood in her room.**

" **In order to reach their full potential with all eyes on them, they've got to show at least that much courage," Riko said to him, writing up some notes on her desk.**

" **Are you sure it wasn't a ploy to get you?" Riko smiled.**

" **I want them to get me again this year."**

" **You're so reckless," her dad said. He opened the door and walked out, peeking his head into her room one last time. "I'm glad you're passionate, but it's not good for your skin. You should get some rest."**

" **Just a little longer. I still need to finish the second-years' individual programs." Her dad smiled back.**

 **"Don't push yourself too hard." He closed the door.**

"Your dad seems to care a lot about your well-being," said Imayoshi.

"Yeah," said Okamura. "He's actually pretty nice."

"Yeah, if you think that Satan is nice," said Hyuuga. "He's only nice to the coach. Everyone else…well…not so much."

 **Riko went back to her notes. "Nothing beats cultivating talent."**

 **The next day at 8:40, Riko was standing at the top of the roof with her arms folded, letting out a laugh.**

" **Heh, heh, heh, I've been waiting for you."**

 **The five first-years were staring at her in disbelief.**

" **Are you stupid?" Kagami said. Kuroko was staring at the coach as well from behind Kagami's large form.**

" **Is this a duel?"**

"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if it was," said Aomine. "She's got the evil laugh, the villainous stance, you guys might as well be getting ready for a boss battle."

"By the way, Aida-san," Akashi said. "Why did you ask them to come to the roof specifically on Monday at 8:40?" Riko chuckled darkly.

"You'll see."

 **Kagami rubbed the back of his head. "I forgot all about it, but Monday…" The screen showed the many rows of students standing outside below.**

" **The morning assembly is in five minutes!"**

 _What is she doing?!_ Everyone else thought. They turned to look at Seirin, who were giving weary looks to their coach, who was smiling with such innocence as if she did nothing wrong.

 **Kagami grabbed the club membership form out of his back pocket and held it up.**

" **Hurry up and take it," he said.**

" **Before that, I have something to tell you," she said. The first-years blinked.**

" **I made a promise when the captain asked me to be his coach last year," Riko told them. "I promised to focus solely on pushing the team towards the national championships. If you don't think you're ready for that, there are other clubs better suited to you."**

 **Kagami raised a brow at that. "What? Of course I'm—"**

" **I know you're strong," she interjected. "But I need to know you have something even more important. No matter how hard you practice, 'someday' and 'maybe' aren't good enough. I need to know you have ambitious goals and the will to accomplish them."**

Everyone in the room was amazed by her words. She really was the greatest coach. All the captains were nodding along to what she was saying as well. They knew in order to overcome tough obstacles, you have to set goals in order to achieve what you want.

"Seirin's coach really is amazing," said Kise. The other teams nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Shin-chan! Let's transfer to Seirin next year!"

"Oi, Takao—"

"I'm gonna transfer then, too! I wanna be on the same team as Tetsu-kun~!"

"Satsuki!"

Riko was giggling to herself, slightly embarrassed by the compliments and stares of awe people were giving her.

"Look, Hyuuga, we've got new team members," she joked, nudging the captain in his side. He laughed.

"They're not gonna want to transfer anymore once they see what you're gonna to make them do on the roof." The other teams were confused.

"Ara? What's happening on the roof?" Murasakibara asked.

"Yeah," said Himuro. "What are you gonna make them do?"

"You'll see," said Seirin.

 **Riko gestured out to the plethora of students below them.**

" **Give me your year, class, and name," she said. "Announce your goals right here and now. If you fail to achieve them, you'll come back up here, strip naked, and confess your feelings for the girl you love."**

"EEEEHHHH?!"

The whole room went wild at what Riko just said on screen.

"Strip naked and confess?!" Takao yelled. "I change my mind, I don't wanna go to Seirin anymore!"

"No wonder they tried so hard in the finals," Nebuya muttered.

"No fair!" Momoi pouted. "If we had won, I would have gotten to see Tetsu-kun confess his love for me!" Everyone looked at her incredulously.

 _Why is she the only one upset about this?!_

 **The first-years were mortified, expect for Kuroko, of course, who kept his calm.**

" **All the second-years did it last year," said Riko.**

" **What? No one told me about this," said Furihata.**

" **I heard about it when they recruited me," said Fukuda. Kawahara looked as worried as them.**

" **But I didn't think they'd actually…"**

"Well, at least we actually accomplished our goals," Kawahara said in relief.

"Yeah," said Furihata. "If we didn't we would've had to strip in the winter." The other teams looked at them in pity.

 _These poor guys!_

" **Like I said before," Riko continued. "I'm looking for something concrete and reasonably ambitious. You'll have to do better than 'play my first game' or 'do my best'."**

 **Kagami smirked. "This'll be easy," he said. "This isn't even a test." He walked toward the ledge and jumped onto the railing. Looking down onto the people below him he took a deep breath.**

" **Class 1-B, number 5, Kagami Taiga!" he shouted, getting the attention of the students about to do the morning assembly. "I will defeat the Generation of Miracles and become the best player in Japan!"**

The GoM raised their eyebrows at his loud declaration to the students of Seirin.

"This bastard," Aomine muttered, shaking his head. "He really was out to get us since the very beginning."

"Also Kagami-kun," Kuroko added. "You really do have a thing for standing in dangerous places. If you slipped you would have fallen for sure." A single tear rolled down Kagami's cheek.

"I'll never be free," he said quietly. "I'll never be free from the harassment."

 **All the students of Seirin were either shocked or confused. Amongst the crowd was Hyuuga, who had his mouth open in surprise.**

 _ **Is she doing that again this year?**_

 **Koganei, Izuki, and Mitobe were looking up as well. They were all pretty surprised too. Mitobe was smiling, though.**

 **Kagami jumped down from the railing and walked back to the group of first-years. Riko watched him go, looking at them expectantly.**

" **Who's next?"**

 **The first-year trio tensed.**

" **If you don't hurry up, the teachers will get here," she reminded them.**

" **Excuse me…" Furihata put his hand up. "Could I say I want a girlfriend?" Riko smiled.**

" **No."**

A few snickers went around the room. Fukuda patted the now blushing Furihata on the back.

"It's okay, Furi. You tried your best."

" **What else do you have?" After a moment of thinking, Kawahara hesitantly put his hand up.**

" **I…I've got one," he said. The other two cheered him on.**

" **Okay," said Furihata. "You can do it." Kawahara went to the railing and leaned over.**

" **Class 1-A, Kawahara Koichi, from Chuo-ku Tokyo. I was a sickly kid so I couldn't play sports. Things started to change for me in kindergarten…"**

 _Oh God, a backstory_ , everyone thought.

 **He kept going on…**

" **I'll never forget the all-star game I saw at school in fifth-grade. It was the first time I ever thought basketball was cool…"**

 **And on…**

" **I joined my school's basketball club in middle school, but I wasn't very good."**

 **And on…**

" **I kept dragging my team down, and I was miserable. But—"**

 **Riko kicked him so hard that he face-planted on the floor.**

" **NEXT!"**

Most people in the room were howling with laughter. Aomine whistled.

"Damn. She really gave it to you good, didn't she?" Kawahara sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, that's our coach for you."

 **Furihata raised his hand. "Um, I want a girlfriend."**

" **I told you no!" Riko shouted.**

"How badly did you want to date someone?" Miyaji asked the brown-haired teen. He glanced off to the side.

"A lot…"

 **The next scene cut to Fukuda leaning over the railing this time.**

" **Class 1-D, Fukuda Hiroshi. I like helping others, so when I heard an upperclassman asking for help, I immediately offered my assistance."**

" **Who knew he'd take my joke seriously?" Izuki said from down below.**

" **He must not have understood your joke," Koganei replied from beside him.**

"That was a joke?!" Fukuda exclaimed. "I really thought you were being serious!" Izuki laughed nervously as he put his hands up in defense.

"My bad, my bad," he said. "But we love your presence on the team anyway."

"Did you even want me or not?!"

" **Class 1-D, Furihata Kouki. The girl I like said she'd go out with me if I became the best at something. I joined the basketball team to become number one."**

"You must really like this girl for you to go out of your way to be number one in an extracurricular," said Moriyama. "Is she cute?"

"More like, is she even going out with you?" said Kasamatsu. "You won the Winter Cup, so did that end up sealing the deal?" Furihata scratched his head.

"You know, I got so wrapped up in basketball that I haven't even thought about her at all," he said. The others sweat-dropped.

 _Was it really worth it then?_

"Wait, but then if you already had a girl you liked and she knew that she liked you, then the whole penalty confession would be pointless," said Fukui. "That's just you confessing to a girl who already knows that you like her."

"But I would still have to strip naked," said Furihata. "I feel like if I did that, she'd get scared off and not want to date me anymore."

"Why do you think that?" Aomine asked. "You got a small package?" Momoi smacked him in the back of the head.

"Don't be vulgar, Dai-chan!"

 **Hyuuga was looking up at the scene above them, his expression nostalgic.**

 _ **Doing this really helped us focus last year,**_ **he thought.** _ **This could be a good tradition.**_

 **Furihata turned to Riko. "If that's not good enough, I don't mind if I can't join the team."**

" **I guess I'm moved," Riko said to him, crossing her arms. She looked at all the first-years. "Who's next?"**

" **Excuse me." She jolted and whipped her head to find Kuroko staring at her. "I'm not good at speaking loudly, so could I use this?" He held up a megaphone for her to see. Riko looked down at it in bewilderment.**

" **Where did you get that?"**

"From the supply closet, if you were wondering," Kuroko responded.

 **It was finally Kuroko's turn to speak, so he went out near the railing.**

Everyone in the room leaned closer to the TV to hear what _Kuroko's_ goal was since it was the most important one.

 **Kuroko held up the megaphone, took a deep breath, and—**

" **HEY!" A teacher burst through the door on the roof and began striding towards them. "The basketball club again?"**

" **Crap, we were almost finished," Riko said in dismay.**

"Oh, come on!"

"That's not even fair!"

The whole room was rage-quitting about the anime because Kuroko was always cut off right before he said something important. Kuroko, amongst the crowd of raging people, blinked as he turned to his light with his usual poker face.

"This is getting out of hand, Kagami-kun."

"Yeah?" Kagami put his hand on hip as he eyed the teal-haired boy. "It's your fault because you took too long."

 **Riko and the five first-years were now kneeling in a row on the floor as the teacher told them off.**

" **I warned you last year. Didn't you say you'd never do this again? You should know what's right and wrong at your age!"**

"Instead of yelling at you on the roof, shouldn't he just take you back to assembly?" Kise asked.

"That's what he did with us last year," said Hyuuga. "But I guess this year he was extra pissed."

"We could hear his yelling from down below, too," Koganei added. Riko huffed out a breath of air.

"What a cranky old geezer."

 **The next scene cut straight to the evening right outside of the Maji Burger. An employee was bowing politely to a customer.**

" **Thank you very much."**

 **The customer revealed himself after turning around. It was Kagami again. And he had yet** _ **another**_ **mountain of burgers.**

The others stared at the screen in disbelief. There was no way that he ordered this many burgers _every_ time he went to Maji Burger.

"Geez," said Wakamatsu. "You must have a reputation there." Kagami shrugged.

"I like burgers."

 **He walked to a table and sat down, grunting in annoyance. "I can't believe he got so mad over a little shouting."**

" **I didn't even finish, and I got in trouble too." Kagami looked across from him as he bit into his burger to see Kuroko there, sitting down with a vanilla milkshake up to his lips.**

 **He nearly choked on his food.**

A handful of people started laughing.

"Does this happen frequently, Kuroko?" Akashi asked his former teammate. He shook his head.

"Only once in a while these days," he replied.

 **Kagami swallowed. "You again?" he said. "Maybe I should start going somewhere else…"**

" **We aren't allowed on the roof anymore," said Kuroko. "What will we do if we can't join the basketball team?" Kagami grinned.**

" **That's not gonna happen."**

" **We'll see." Kagami suddenly remembered something because he perked up and then leaned towards Kuroko.**

" **By the way, why didn't you go to some big-name school like the other five guys? You were good enough to be known as their Phantom Sixth Man. Is there some reason you play basketball?"**

Everyone once again leaned closer, hoping that this time they won't be interrupted. As for the GoM, they were all discreetly exchanging looks, wondering what Kuroko would say.

 **Kuroko stopped drinking his milkshake and put it down.**

" **My middle school's basketball team had one core principle. Winning is everything. Instead of teamwork, we needed to push the individual talents of the Generation of Miracles to win." Kuroko was looking down at the table. "Nobody could beat us, but we weren't a team."**

The other teams watched as all of a sudden the Generation of Miracles, even Kuroko, became unusually quiet. None of them were looking at each other, almost as if they were trying not to.

 _They must feel pretty guilty,_ the others thought.

 **In the background, it showed a middle school Kuroko with his uniform on.**

" **The five of them approved," he continued. "But I felt we lacked something important."**

" **So, what?" Kagami asked. "Are you gonna beat the Generation of Miracles your own way?"**

" **That's what I was thinking," Kuroko responded. Kagami was impressed.**

" **Seriously?"**

" **Your words and the coach's words really struck me," said Kuroko. "My biggest reason to play is trying to make you and our team the best in Japan."**

"You've got ambitious goals, Kuroko-kun," Otsubo said to the Seirin shadow, effectively breaking the room out of its rather depressing silence. "And they really did pay off in the end too." The GoM watched as Kuroko turned back to the third-year and gave him a small smile.

"Thank you," he said. "But I really didn't do much. I was just trying to help my friends."

The five of them were surprised at his words. Kise was the first to jump on him.

"AAAHH KUROKOCCHI! YOU'RE MY FRIEND TOO!"

"I can't breathe, Kise-kun." Midorima huffed and turned the other way.

"It's not like I think of you as my friend, nanodayo," he said. "Our blood types are incompatible anyway."

"Don't be a tsundere, Shin-chan!"

"S-Stop saying embarrassing shit, Tetsu."

"Dai-chan, you know you're happy!"

"Shut up, Satsuki!"

"Kuro-chin is my friend too~," Murasakibara said through a mouthful of snacks. Kuroko smiled at the purple giant.

"Thank you, Murasakibara-kun." Out of all this, Akashi simply chuckled to himself. He was satisfied just watching them interact. The others stared at the scene unfolding in front of them.

 _They're probably okay now._

 **Kagami began rising up from the chair. "We're not gonna try," he said. He put a hand on his hip and locked eyes with Kuroko sitting opposite to him. "We're gonna** _ **be**_ **the best."**

 **Kuroko stared at him for a short moment before smiling.**

 **The next day, at Seirin High, several students were peering out the windows of the building looking at something outside. Kagami walked into his classroom and saw that his classmates were doing the same, pointing and staring outside.**

 _ **What's all the commotion?**_ **He walked over to the windows and looked outside before letting out a bark of laughter and grinning.**

 **There, written in enormous chalk characters in the ground, was one simple sentence that spoke volumes to the redhead.**

' _ **We will be the best in Japan'**_

 **As Riko sat in her classroom, looking over at her classmates who were standing around the window and taking pictures, she smiled to herself.**

" **This could be interesting enough to work."**

 **Kagami looked back to Kuroko who was sitting at his desk reading a novel. But as he lifted his arm to rub his nose, it showed that his sleeve had white chalk on it.**

The whole room was in awe. Who knew that the first-years at Seirin could be so awe-inspiring? Aomine laughed and shook his head.

"You're crazy, Tetsu."

"Tetsu-kun, that's so cool!" Momoi said to him. "But how early did you have to go in for that?"

"About half an hour," Kuroko replied. "I had to locate enough chalk to write the message so big."

"That _is_ crazy," said Kawahara. "I'm surprised no one saw you."

"No—actually it's more like because of who he is, no one saw him," said Imayoshi. Susa nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Considering how invisible he is, I'm surprised no one reported a floating piece of chalk writing on the ground."

 **In the next scene, the team was changing into their basketball practice clothes. Koganei, just finishing getting ready, turns around after shutting his locker and spots something on the bench.**

" **Huh? This is…"**

 **It was a basketball magazine called 'Basketball Monthly'. It featured Kise on the front dribbling down the court. He was wearing his Teiko uniform.**

"Eh? That's me-ssu!" Kise said excitedly. "I remember that magazine issue!"

"You only remembered it because your face was on the cover, nanodayo," Midorima felt the need to say. "Don't be so vain."

 **Koganei picked up the magazine issue. "Didn't this come out when Kuroko was at Teiko?" he said. Hyuuga walked over and leaned over Koganei's shoulder to see.**

" **Al the players are featured," he observed, flipping through the pages. "Kuroko…" He raised an eyebrow when he flipped through all the pages and couldn't find him "doesn't have an article."**

" **Even though he's the sixth man," Koganei pointed out. "Didn't they come to interview you?"**

" **They did," Kuroko replied. "But they forgot about me."**

 **Izuki, Hyuuga, and Koganei each gave him equal looks of pity.** _ **So sad!**_

"Kuroko-kun sure has it rough, huh?" Kobori said. The rest of Seirin nodded.

"Yes, yes he does." The GoM were shocked as well.

"Even though we told the guy not to forget Kurokocchi…"

"Poor Tetsu-kun!"

"I suppose it's inevitable," Akashi said. "With his lack of presence, it makes him very easy to miss. Although, I was initially surprised that his lack of presence was effective enough to carry through to interviews."

"We didn't even realize he forgot him until the article came out too," said Murasakibara. He put some pocky in his mouth. "Even though they still interviewed Kuro-chin~…" The opposing schools looked over at Kuroko with even more looks of pity.

 _How tragic!_ They all thought.

" **Besides, I'm nothing like the other five," Kuroko added. "They're true prodigies."**

"Ow!"

Aomine flicked Kuroko in the middle of his forehead suddenly. The teal-haired boy rubbed the spot that was hit and frowned.

"Aomine-kun, what was that for?"

"For saying that you're not as good as us," Aomine stated matter-of-factly. "Why do you think we put you on the team dumbass?"

"He's right, Kuroko," Akashi said to him. "It's nice that you complimented us, but you don't have to bring yourself down in the process. You earned a place on the first-string."

Kuroko glanced off to the side, a small smile slipping on his face.

"My apologies."

 _They're way more protective of him than we thought,_ was the general thought going through the heads of all the other people in the room.

 **Fukuda came running through the door to the clubroom.**

" **She's back!" he said excitedly. "The coach is back!"**

 **Everyone's attention was on him as he stopped in front of his teammates.**

" **We're gonna play a practice game," he announced. Everyone else was excited as well.**

" **I wonder who we're playing," said Hyuuga.**

" **Who knows?" Fukuda said, scratching his head. "She was skipping for some reason, though."**

 **Hyuuga flinched, looking very horrified. "She was skipping?!"**

"What's so bad about skipping?" Mibuchi asked. "Does that mean something?"

"Oh, you'll see," Hyuuga responded. The rest of his team nodded sagely, leaving the opposing teams to wonder what the hell they were going on about.

 **The screen showed Riko's feet, skipping down the hallway as she hummed a tune. Hyuuga turned to the rest of the team.**

" **Be prepared, everyone," he said gravely. "If she's skipping…" A few students looking at Riko strangely as she continued to skip and turn a corner. "Our next opponent's gonna be real tough."**

The other teams blanched.

"Oh God," said Kimura. "This is what you have to deal with on a regular basis?"

"Man. I am sorry for anything bad I've ever said or thought about your team," said Wakamatsu.

"Who was your opponent anyway?" Hayama asked.

"You'll be finding out very soon," said Kuroko.

 **The scene cut to the outside of the school as two feet stepped up to the school gate. It was Kise, and he was standing and looking at the school's exterior.**

" **This is Seirin?" he said. "New and pristine, just as I expected."**

"Oh! Oh! Oh! There I am!" Kise exclaimed wildly pointing to the screen. "I'm making my debut-ssu!" Kasamatsu kicked him hard enough to knock him to the floor again.

"How hard is it to stop acting like an over-excited puppy every time you see _your own damn face_ on TV?!" he shouted. "Say 'There I am' one more time! See what happens to your face when I'm done with you!"

"So mean, senpai!"

 **All the girls in the vicinity started gawking at him as he walked on by.**

" **Isn't he hot?"**

" **And tall. Wait, is he…"**

" **The model!"**

Aomine groaned, lolling his head back. "Ugh, I forgot what a pain in the ass it was to go anywhere with Kise without his fangirls stalking us all the time."

Mibuchi turned to his redheaded captain. "Sei-chan, is that true?"

"I usually left school later than the others, so I wouldn't know," Akashi told him. "But I've heard some very interesting stories."

"I caught a group of girls spying on us from some bushes outside one time we went to Maji," said Kuroko. Midorima adjusted his glasses.

"They were a nuisance," Midorima said bluntly. "They should be doing more productive things with their time instead of spying on others, nanodayo."

"Sometimes girls would ask me to deliver their homemade chocolates to him because I was in his class," Murasakibara drawled. "I ate them though~."

"Eh?! Murasakibaracchi how could you?!"

 **The members of the Seirin basketball team were busy practicing. Furihata had the ball and was standing in front of Hyuuga, dribbling contemplatively. Then, Kuroko broke free of his mark and Furihata passed to him. He passed to Kagami, who caught it and turned to face Izuki. The second-year smirked, determined to try and stop his play. That's when Kagami faked left and drove right, breaking past and moving towards the basket.**

"Nice fake," said Izuki. Kagami smiled.

"Heh, thanks."

 **The fake was so sudden it surprised even Hyuuga, who happened to watch from his position. Izuki began to chase after him.**

" **Not yet!" he panted. Kagami stopped in place and did a turnaround, jumping up in the air with the ball.**

" **So fast!" Furihata said.**

 **Kagami dunked the ball one hand, the ball going through the hoop with ease. Unknowingly, Kise was watching, and he smirked to himself.**

"Wha(t) are (yo)u (sm)iling abou(t), Kise?" Hayakawa asked. Kise just smiled and hummed.

"Oh, nothing," he said.

 **Kagami landed on the floor and both teams from the mini-game surrounded him.**

" **Nice shot!" said Kawahara.**

" **He's amazing," Koganei marveled. "Such a quick turn at full speed! He's no ordinary human."**

" **He might even beat the Generation of Miracles."**

" **He might really be able to beat them with that," Furihata said.**

" **That's not an easy maneuver!" Kawahara observed.**

" **Maybe he's better than them already!" Fukuda exclaimed.**

"Wrong!" Aomine shouted out. "I can take that sloppy-ass turnaround and make it twice as fast with double the power."

"Who are you calling sloppy?!" Kagami growled. "Don't get so ahead of yourself, Aomine!"

"In all fairness, I can't believe your team underestimated them so much," said Mayuzumi. "I don't know what you thought you were getting yourself into if you thought that the Generation of Miracles would be beaten by a simple turnaround. Are you stupid?"

The whole room glanced over at Seirin shook their heads.

 _Such naïve children,_ they thought.

 **Kuroko listened to all of his teammates' praise and thought about his conversation with Kagami the night after trials.**

" _ **From what I've seen, you wouldn't even reach their feet."**_

" **That's what I said, but…" He looked over at Kagami who was wiping the sweat from his face.**

 **After the end of the game, Riko called the team.**

" **Gather 'round, everyone!"**

 **"Yes, ma'am!"**

 **Hyuuga's eyes went wide at something that Riko had apparently just said.**

" **A practice game against Kaijo High School?!"**

"Ah, that explains why Kise is at their school," said Moriyama. "I was wondering where you ran off to after school."

"To check out Seirin, of course!" Kise told him.

 **Riko nodded. "That's right," she said. "They won't disappoint us. We'll put plenty of first-years on the court."**

" **Disappoint us?" Koganei repeated. "They're way better than us."**

Kasamatsu puffed out his chest and smirked proudly.

"Damn straight."

" **They really that good?" Kawahara asked.**

" **They're strong at the national level," Hyuuga told him. "They play in the Inter-High every year."**

" **And this year," Riko continued "Kaijo got their hands on one of the Generation of Miracles, Kise Ryouta."**

Kise would have said something clever or snappy, but Kasamatsu was giving him death glares, so he stayed in his seat.

 **The first-year trio was terrified.**

" **What?"**

" **Him? The Generation of Miracles?"**

 **Kuroko's expression remained impassive. Kagami grinned.**

 _ **I never thought I'd get to play them so soon,**_ **he thought to himself.** _ **What a blessing. I'm getting excited.**_

" **Apparently, Kise works as a model," Hyuuga said to the rest of them.**

" **Seriously?" said Izuki. "Amazing."**

" **Good looking and good at basketball?" said Koganei. "That's brutal."**

 **Riko shook her head. "Idiot."**

"It _is_ pretty brutal," said Takao. "What I'd give for that combo."

"It's irritating when he keeps trying to show us his photo book, nanodayo," said Midorima.

"It was cool the first time," said Aomine. "But then every other time after that it got annoying."

"Eh?! But the first time I showed you guys was like two years ago!" Kise cried.

"Besides," said Kuroko. "It's a bit unfair to say that he's the only good looking one in the team."

"What's this, Tetsu? You finally noticing good looking I am?" Aomine said, flexing his muscles. "The only one hotter than me is me."

"…On second thought, never mind, actually. Kise-kun can keep the title."

"Oi!"

 **Suddenly, there was a lot of talking and noise coming from one side of the gymnasium. Looking over to the door, Riko saw dozens and dozens of girls holding pens and papers excitedly giggling amongst each other. The whole team looked at the scene in confusion.**

" **Huh? What? What are all these people doing here?" A bashful voice cut through the crowd of giggling girls.**

" **Uh, I didn't mean for this to happen."**

 **Hyuuga squinted as he gazed over at this mystery person. "That's…" Riko stared in awe.**

" **What is the Generation of Miracle's Kise Ryouta doing here?"**

"Stealing all your girls, apparently," said Imayoshi.

"Come to think of it," said Hyuuga. "Tsuchida, do you think your girlfriend was in that line?"

"She better not have been," the second-year muttered under his breath.

 **Kuroko nodded in acknowledgment to the blonde. "It's good to see you again." Kise lowered the paper he was signing and smiled.**

" **Good to see you," he said back.**

 **The team looked at Kuroko and then back to Kise. They were still in shock that he was standing on their court.**

" **Kise Ryouta," Hyuuga said in amazement. The copycat sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.**

" **Sorry, really. Um… Do you think you could wait five minutes?"**

"How quickly do you write man?" Fukuda said to the blonde. "There were at least like fifty girls there!"

"Well, once you do it enough times, it gets easy-ssu," Kise replied.

 **After five minutes, like Kise promised, he had signed all the autographs and was ready. He hopped off the stage and landed on the floor.**

" **There." The screen panned up to his smiling figure.**

" **Wh-What are you doing here?" Hyuuga stammered. Kise began walking towards the large group.**

" **When I heard that our next opponent was Seirin, I remembered Kurokocchi went here, so I thought I'd come say hi. We were the best of friends in middle school."**

" **Not more than anyone else," Kuroko replied.**

" **So mean!"**

A good handful of people burst out laughing. Kaijo was laughing the hardest, though. Kasamatsu wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Man," he breathed. "Kuroko should have come to Kaijo. He would've put Kise in his place."

 **Meanwhile, the first-year trio was reading a magazine near the back of the room.**

" **Kise Ryouta," Furihata read off the magazine. "Though he started basketball his second year of middle school, his exceptional physical ability got him on the Teiko team as a regular in a heartbeat." It panned over to a picture of his in a game in the magazine article, the title reading 'Rapidly Improving All-Rounder Kise Ryouta'. "While he has less experience than the other four, he's a rapidly improving all-rounder."**

"Really? You only started in your second year of middle school?" Liu said in disbelief. Kise nodded.

"I had only joined for two weeks before they brought me up to the first-string team-ssu," he replied. "Kurokocchi was my mentor."

"I didn't really teach you much, though," said Kuroko. "I felt more like I was supervising."

" **Since your second year?" Hyuuga said incredulously. Kise scratched the back of his head.**

" **That article exaggerated quite a bit," he said. "I'm glad to be part of the Generation of Miracles, but I'm the worst of the bunch. They bullied me and Kurokocchi for it all the time."**

" **That never happened to me," said Kuroko.**

" **What? It was just me?"**

"I mean I'm not gonna lie, that's pretty funny," said Takao. "But you guys used to bully people?"

"I for one did not," Akashi stated. "Unfortunately, I cannot vouch for the other three."

"Count me out of that nonsense as well, nodayo," said Midorima. "Any bullying would be coming from Aomine's end."

"I didn't do anything!" Aomine shouted. "It's Murasakibara's fault!"

"Eh? Don't blame me, Mine-chin," Murasakibara grumbled. "I'll crush you."

The others sweat-dropped. _So no one is going to own up…_

 **Suddenly, Kise's eyes widened as a basketball came flying at him from the other side of the court. His quick reflexes allowed him to reach out as stop it with his hand, the ball deaccelerating, and then, dropping to the floor.**

" **Ow! What was that for?" The coach and captain were shocked.**

" **Kagami!"**

" **Kagami-kun!"**

"How many times are you gonna be aggressive out of nowhere, Taiga?" Himuro asked.

"Yeah, Kagamicchi!" Kise chimed in. "How rude to throw a ball at someone you just met-ssu!"

"Alright! I get it!" Kagami shouted.

" **Sorry for interrupting your little reunion," said Kagami. "But don't tell me you came all the way here just to greet us. Why don't you play with me a little,** _ **ikemen-kun?**_ **"**

"That," Aomine says, looking mildly disturbed. "Sounded _so_ wrong on _so_ many levels." Kagami blushed furiously.

"I-I didn't mean it in _that_ way, you dumbass!" He threw a cushion at his face. Even Kise was embarrassed.

"Aominecchi, you're so dirty-minded!"

" **What?" said Kise. "I don't know if I'm ready. But I just…" He changed his mind and nodded to himself. "Fine, let's do it. I'll have to thank you for that display." He tossed the ball to Kagami, and he caught it, grinning at Kise all the while.**

 **Riko sighed. "Unbelievable," she said.**

" **This could be bad," Kuroko said, startling Riko a little. She blinked.**

" **Huh?"**

"If only you had known, Kagami," said Hyuuga. "Then you wouldn't have embarrassed yourself in front of Kise that day." Kagami huffed.

"I know."

 **The whole basketball team watched Kagami and Kise as they were face-to-face on the court. Kagami dribbled the ball a little and passed it to Kagami. Kise caught it and then started to dribble himself. The screen gave a close-up to their faces, showing how calm and focused both of them were. Then without missing a beat, Kise faked right and dribbled left, leaving Kagami to chase after him. He tried to defend, but then Kise deaccelerated, did a quick turn around, and jumped for the dunk. Riko gasped as she realized what happened.**

 **The screen showed Kise's movements completely mirroring Kagami's own, imitating the turnaround he had done before.**

" **He learns plays as he sees them and makes them his own," Kuroko explained.**

 _ **This isn't simple imitation,**_ **Riko thought gravely.**

 _ **This is ridiculous!**_ **Kagami thought.** _ **I just did that, but…**_ **He reached for the ball in Kise's hands.** _ **You've gotta be kidding me!**_

" **Kagami's on fire too," Furihata commented. Kagami managed to catch up to Kise's jump and grab the ball, but Kise was too strong and he dunked the ball anyway.**

"Oh, nice dunk, Kise," Kasamatsu said.

"A nice way to introduce the power of our team," said Moriyama.

"I wi(sh) I w(ere) (th)ere t(o) get (t)he (re)bounds, (th)ough!" Hayakawa said. Kobori shook his head.

"Hayakawa, you can't get rebound on dunks," he said. Kise beamed.

 _I'm finally being complimented for once!_

 **Kagami was horrified as he began to fall from the air.**

 _ **He's quicker than me,**_ **he thought.** _ **Stronger than me too.**_

 **He landed on his backside with a thud on the floor, looking up at Kise with disbelief. As for the blonde, he made a perfect landing, standing above him as the ball bounced away.**

" **This is the Generation of Miracles," Kawahara said in amazement. "Kuroko, your friend's way too good." Kuroko frowned.**

" **I don't know that person."**

" **Huh?"**

Kise wailed in despair. Back to the insults again.

" **To be honest," said Kuroko. "I may have underestimated him until just now. It's only been a few months since I left them, but the Generation of Miracles improved far more quickly than I expected."**

"Kurokocchi, you're sending me so many mixed messages!" the copycat cried. "Do you like me or hate me?!" Kuroko shrugged.

"Who knows?"

"Hey!"

 **Kise sighed as he looked down at Kagami. "I don't know about this," he said. Kagami looked up at him, confused. "After something so disappointing, I can't just leave now." He began walking towards the group of team members watching.**

" **Give us Kurokocchi."**

The GoM glared at Kise, making him flinch at the tension.

"Oi, Kise. You must have some nerve thinking you can just make Kuroko transfer to your school you selfish bastard," Aomine said. Kise put his hands up in defense.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" said Kise. "I won't do it again, just don't hit me!"

 **The others were obviously surprised. Kise continued walking until he stopped directly in front of Kuroko.**

" **Come join us," he said, extending a hand. "Let's play basketball together again."**

"Kise," Midorima said. "Were you not aware of the agreement after middle school, nanodayo? There is no point of you making a promise if you are going to break it after a few short months."

"I know!" said Kise. "But I just wanted to play basketball with Kurokocchi…"

"Besides, Kaijo is far," Kuroko pointed out. "It would be too much stress to commute to Kanagawa every day."

 **Everyone in Seirin was completely shocked.**

" **I seriously respect you, Kurokocchi," Kise continued. "It's a waste of your talent to stay here. What do you say?"**

"I say don't be such a douchebag!" Kasamatsu scolded, hitting Kise in the back of the head. "What did I tell you about talking down to opponents, you idiot!" Kise sobbed.

"I'm sorry, senpai! I won't do it again!"

 **Kuroko seemed to be relatively unfazed by the offer.**

" **I am honored to hear you say that," he said. "But I must respectfully decline your offer." He bowed politely to Kise, taking him off guard.**

" **That doesn't make any sense," said Kise. "Besides, this really isn't like you. Winning was everything. Why didn't you go somewhere better?"**

Most of the room was staring at Kise, not believing that this usually energetic cheery person could be so petulant and rude.

"Oh boy," Izuki whispered to Kiyoshi. "I think he's gonna be in trouble when this episode is over."

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Kiyoshi said back. "I'm sure they'll forgive him."

"Um, have you _met_ Kaijo's captain?"

" **My thinking has changed since then," said Kuroko. "More importantly, I made a promise to Kagami-kun. I told him we'd beat you, the Generation of Miracles."**

 **Kise's eyebrows furrowed. "It really isn't like you to joke around like that," he said. A chuckle resounded from behind them. Kise turned around to find Kagami standing there with a grin on his face.**

 _ **This is the Generation of Miracles,**_ **he thought.** _ **They really are amazing! And there's four more guys stronger than him. I can't help but smile.**_

"You're such a creeper, Kagami."

"That's just how he is, Aomine-kun. Every time we face a strong opponent, he starts smiling. You'll just have to get accustomed to the creepiness."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not right here!"

" **What are you doing?" said Kagami. "I was gonna say that, Kuroko."**

" **I still have no sense of humor," Kuroko deadpanned. "I'm serious."**

"Ah, there's the name of the title again," said Hayama.

"I figured someone like Kuroko doesn't make jokes," said Kimura. "It just doesn't align with his personality."

"Now that I think about it, even in middle school, most of the boys didn't make jokes anyway," said Momoi.

"Eh? They didn't?" said Koganei.

"Yeah, Satsuki. What're you talking about?" said Aomine. "I make jokes all the time!"

"Aomine-kun only makes dirty jokes," said Kuroko. "Those don't count."

"What about me-ssu?" Kise said to them. "I make jokes."

"Kise's jokes are the super cliché ones that nobody uses anymore," Aomine said. "He thinks he's being cute but he's really just being a pain in the ass."

"So mean!"

"So? Who does that leave? There's Midorima…" Kuroko, Aomine, and Kise eyed the glasses wearing teenager. "Never mind, he's never funny."

"Oi."

"And Murasakibaracchi's usually have to do with food."

"Yeah, if he's not lazy enough to get to the punchline," Aomine muttered. "Those two are hopeless."

"Sei-chan, what about you? Do you have a sense of humor?" Akashi grimaced.

"I tried to make a joke once…" he trailed off, leaving the other teams to look at him quizzically.

 _What happened…?_

 **Kise said nothing and just smirked, the three of them standing in the middle of the court looking at each other with determined eyes. Then the screen faded to black and the ending began to play.**

"Looks like we've finished another episode," said Furihata. "I know we've all been through this before, but it's really exciting to watch all over again."

"Yeah," said Kawahara. "Like we're reliving the journey again."

As everyone continued to talk as the ending song played, Kuroko turned to tap his previous light.

"Aomine-kun…"

The Touou Power Forward blinked and looked over at him.

"Oh, it's just you. What's up, Tetsu?"

"I was just wondering if you would tell me what was bothering you before we started the episode."

"Huh? I said it was nothing, Tetsu," he said, turning the other way. "I wasn't bothered."

"I know when you lie to me, Aomine-kun. It's okay, you can tell me." He sighed.

"Can't put anything past you, huh?" Aomine shifted uncomfortably from where he was sitting. "I was just thinking that if we're gonna watch this anime, it's gonna show stuff about Teiko."

"I know," said Kuroko. "I would figure they might do flashbacks of our middle school days."

"Yeah, yeah, I knew that. But I meant all the bad stuff that when down," Aomine said, more insistent this time. "Like what happened in the third year between you and me, and…" He took a deep breath. "I was a real jerk to you, Tetsu…" His voice sounded slightly softer, yet it sounded a bit sad as well. Kuroko patted him on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"It doesn't matter what happened before," said Kuroko. "You've changed from Teiko, and that's all that matters to me. Even if it does make you look like a jerk, we all know Aomine-kun is a good guy." He held up a fist and looked towards him expectantly. Aomine blinked before realizing what he was doing, letting out a breath of air akin to laugh and giving him a fist-bump.

"Heh, you say some really embarrassing shit sometimes, Tetsu."

"You don't dislike it."

"Shut up."

When the ending finished, there were expecting it to play episode three when a picture popped up on screen. It was Riko and Hyuuga together. She had one arm around his shoulder as she stood above him, the glasses-wearing captain holding a clipboard. They were both smiling at the camera and giving the thumbs up.

"Huh?" Miyaji grunted. "Where did this photo come from?"

"That's what I'd like to know," said Hyuuga. "I remember taking the photo, but…"

"I don't remember signing it over for an anime show!" Riko finished. "Where did they get that from?"

"I feel like this might be a common occurrence," said Susa. Imayoshi nodded.

"Then I guess next episode will have a different photo," he concluded. "I wonder whose privacy they'll invade next, hmm?" Everyone blanched at the thought of any of the embarrassing photos on their phone being used for this anime. Most people prayed they wouldn't be the next victims.

"The only way we're gonna find out if we watch the next episode," said Izuki. Koganei pointed to the screen.

"Akashi! Press play!"

"Of course."

* * *

 **Ugh God it's done! My fingers hurt again.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I might not be able to get to the next one 'til next week because I have coursework to finish so expect about a week and a half for this. Maybe. If I'm motivated to type this much again.**

 **Anyway, quick question to you lovely people out there: Would you like me to add little shorts here and there when the characters take breaks from watching episodes? Like little discussion sessions or whatever you would like for the characters to do? I feel like it would get boring if it's just the reactions so I want it to be a little more entertaining. Do pop in a review to tell me what you think! I'll work something out.**

 **Okay so I'm gonna go to bed now, my brain is fried as hell. Next up is Episode 3- It's Better If I Can't win!**

 **Read and review please!**


	4. Episode 3- It's Better If I Can't Win

**WOW IT'S BEEN AGES AND I'M SORRY.**

 **HAHAHAHA hello again! I deeply apologize to whoever was waiting for me to update, I had a lot of coursework and deadlines close together so I've been clearing my schedule for quite a few weeks now. I've finally finished my lectures and etc for the academic year but I still have about two more deadlines right in the beginning of May to meet so after that I'm all yours til like October (fingers crossed!)**

 **Anyway, thank you for all the favorites, follows and reviews I've received while I was out. I'm glad this many people are invested in reading my works! Now to address some general things I've received in reviews:**

 **1\. One person asked me if this fic was yaoi and I just? Like no? HAHA why would this ever be yaoi? Anyone who has read any of my other stories know that I make it clear that I don't write nsfw (mainly because I'd suck at it and also because using it here in this story would be really unnecessary?). Whatever hints you saw in the last chapter that seemed like yaoi are most definitely not. This fic is PG only.**

 **2\. Thank you for understanding my characterization of Akashi! I've written 5 stories (4 of which are ongoing) and all of my stories are about him or have him as the main character. I spend a lot of my time extensively researching his character and discussing headcanons with others and whatnot. Anyone who sees Akashi as a serious and withdrawn character have not seen any official content of him post Winter Cup. He's as friendly as anyone has ever seen him. I will continue to fine-tune his character here though, because it's my first time writing such a story like this. Please bear with!**

 **3\. I use a lot of the anime official content with this fic, but I will also be mixing it with manga official content as well. I'm trying not to be biased towards one source, but I'll see how it goes!**

 **4\. Since I've received response that some people would like to see little sort of intermissions chapters where the KnB cast are doing something other than reacting to the anime, I will make it so! The 'intermission chapters' as I've decided to call it, will vary in content to allow for variety, but it gives a break to what would be a very repetitive pattern. So look forward to those! Hopefully I can write for one soon!**

 **ONE MORE THING!**

 **To all who think I will eventually abandon this fic before I finish, please have faith in me. The reason why I started this fic is BECAUSE I was frustrated that none of the reaction fics I've read for KnB ever finished. It might take some time, but rest assured, I will finish this. I hope you guys will stay with me to the end. Now, my blurb has become super long, so without further ado...**

 **Please enjoy!**

* * *

Episode 3- It's better if I can't win

 **After a recap of the previous episode, the episode starts with the title:**

 **Episode 3- It's Better If I Can't Win**

"Oh~. I wonder who says the name of the title this time," Hayama wondered. Mibuchi, who was sitting near him, felt the need to sigh in annoyance.

"Kotarou," he said slowly. "Are you going to point out when the title is said in every single episode?" Hayama looked somewhat affronted at his question.

"Eh? I can't?" he said. "Why not?"

"It's annoying, obviously!" The Rakuzan Shooting Guard folded his arms. "I don't want to hear you point out the obvious however many times a day."

"Aw come on, Reo-nee~."

"Just let him do it before he starts whining," Nebuya said from his seat. "He's gonna forget that you told him not to do it, anyway."

 **The scene goes immediately to Kaijo Private High School it gets an aerial shot of Seirin walking through their entrance on their way to meet Kaijo for their practice match.**

" **This place is huge," Hyuuga marveled. "You can really tell when a school is devoted to its athletics."**

"They really put a lot of money and effort into the athletics part of the school, huh?" said Himuro.

"Yeah," Kasamatsu replied. "I always forget that there are other clubs in our school besides the sports clubs."

"What even _are_ the other clubs in our school?" Kobori wondered aloud. Kasamatsu shrugged.

"Fuck knows."

 **In the midst of their marveling, Kagami looked extremely exhausted with bloodshot eyes and dark circles.**

 **Kuroko turned to his light. "Kagami-kun, the look in your eyes is worse than usual."**

" **Shut up," Kagami grumbled.**

"You sure do like poking fun at him, Kuroko-kun," Otsubo said to the Phantom Sixth Man.

"Finally!" Kagami cried. "Someone who's on my side!"

"Kagami-kun makes it too easy to poke fun at him," Kuroko said. "Even our senpai would agree with me."

"Kuroko, you bastard… Between me and you, who's the real bully here?!"

 **It flashed back to the night before and the clock in Kagami's room read 2:47 in the morning. Kagami was in his bed looking up at the ceiling with a determined expression.**

" **You'll see Kise," he said to no one in particular. "I'll show you!" He then began to chuckle maniacally until the sun rose.**

Kagami groaned when everyone in the room began to give him weird looks, especially Seirin, and even more especially Kise.

"Kagamicchi... That's really weird-ssu."

"Jesus, Tetsu, this is why I keep asking you why you made _Kagami_ of all people your light."

"I'd hate to be his neighbor," Takao mumbled under his breath.

"And considering that he was this excited for Kise," said Moriyama "imagine if he did this for the rest of the Generation of Miracles too."

"That's even worse!" said Riko. "Imagine if the length of the laugh increased the better his opponents were!"

"If that's the case," said Hayama. "Wouldn't that mean he'd be chuckling to himself for half the day before facing Akashi?" Akashi suddenly pressed his mouth into an awkward line.

"Somehow that makes me uncomfortable," he said at last.

"Me too," said the rest of the GoM, and they all simultaneously moved away from Kagami. Kagami looked at them in disbelief.

"Oi! Stop running away!"

" **I got a little too excited," Kagami regretfully explained to him, pinching the bridge of his nose. Kuroko looked at him.**

" **What are you, a kid going on a field trip?"**

" **What'd you say?"**

"He is not wrong, nanodayo," said Midorima. "Even my younger sister does not act like that, and she's five."

"One episode! Can't you guys go one episode without targeting me?!"

 **"Hey, guys!"**

 **Kuroko and Kagami looked over to find that Kise was excitedly running towards them with a smile on his face.**

" **Kise!" Kagami called out to him. Kise stopped right in front of their large group, raising a hand in greeting.**

" **This place is big, so I thought I'd come and get you." Riko smiled and gave a little bow.**

" **Hello."**

 **After watching their short exchange, Kagami walked over to the blonde.**

" **Kise…" he growled when he started walking over, but then stopped when he realized that Kise wasn't listening. "Hey!"**

 **Kise walked straight over to Kuroko.**

" **Kurokocchi, ever since you turned down my invitation to join us, I've been crying into my pillow every night," he said to the teal-haired boy, his voice dejected. The rest of the team simply stared.**

" **What's wrong with him?" Hyuuga blurted out.**

" **Just show us the way," Kagami said.**

"Our words exactly," said everyone else. The GoM seemed particularly unamused.

"Why do you always have to say weird things like that?" Aomine asked the blonde.

"For once, I agree with Aomine," said Midorima. "If you were so adamant on expressing your disappointment, you could have phrased it in a way that didn't make you sound idiotic, nanodayo." Kasamatsu sighed.

"I knew I shouldn't have let him out of my sight that day."

 **Kise ignored the others and continued to press on talking to Kuroko.**

" **Not even a girl has turned me down before," Kise said, trying to make Kuroko understand his point.**

" **Are you ignoring me?" Kagami growled.**

"Oi," said Takao. "Isn't his conversation with Kuroko entering some weird territory? You're acting as if you gave him a love confession or something."

"If he did, Aka-chin would have probably known," Murasakibara drawled. Fukui blinked.

"Eh? How? Wasn't he in Kyoto at this time?" Murasakibara shrugged and put a stick of pocky in his mouth.

"He just always knows." The rest of Yosen looked at the Akashi watching the screen. Akashi noticed the stares and glanced over at Yosen in question before they all averted their eyes and went back to the screen.

 _So creepy!_

 **Finally, Kuroko decided to speak up.**

" **Could you please stop being sarcastic?" Suddenly Kise's expression changed, and he got a strange glint in his eye as he smirked at Kuroko.**

" **I'm interested to know more about the guy who's making Kurokocchi say those things." He turned around to face Kagami and began to walk past him. "I don't care much about being called the Generation of Miracles, but I can't ignore such an obvious challenge."**

 **Kagami turned to see that Kise still had that unusual smile on his face.**

" **I'm not mature enough to let it slide. Sorry, but I'm going to crush you with everything I have."** **Kagami grinned.**

" **Sounds good."**

"Wow," Hayama suddenly blurted out. "That was kinda weird."

"Ehhh?" Kise whined. "Why am I being called weird this time? I really didn't do anything wrong in that scene just now-ssu!"

"I think what he meant to say is that he found it weird for you to make that face, Kise," Akashi clarified. "Not everyone here has seen you make that face, you know."

"I always thought that Kise was always just some bubbly supermodel," Liu said. "I just assumed he was always in that state of mind, and since we've never faced him and we would be in the stands when we watched games, I would never properly see the expressions he makes to his opponents. I was kind of taken off guard."

"It's still kinda weird for us too," said Aomine. "Since in middle school, nothing was ever really a threat to us, so we were never that serious. I think the first time I saw Kise make that face was during the InterHigh."

Everyone, especially Kaijo, was surprised to hear how even Kise's former teammates could be caught off guard when Kise was serious. Moriyama smiled.

"Kise really does make it seem like he's harmless, doesn't he?" At first, he said that jokingly, but when everyone turned back to watch the screen, he suddenly realized something and frowned.

… _Does he do that on purpose?_

 **The scene cut to the gymnasium that they were to be doing the match in.**

" **Here it is," said Kise. Everyone seemed surprised when they walked in for the first time. The reason behind that was revealed when they saw people getting warmed up for a game and other people doing regular practice, all cordoned off by the net that separates half of the court from the other half.**

" **We're playing on half a court?" Riko asked. "The other side's being used for practice?"**

 **Suddenly, Kaijo's coach Genta Takeuchi noticed them coming into the gymnasium and turned around.**

" **You're here. Welcome," he said. "I'm coach Takeuchi."**

"I remember those days when he had that messy stubble on his face," said Kobori.

"He (sha)ves his (face) more of(ten) now," said Hayakawa.

"Why is that?" Kuroko asked. Half of Kaijo suddenly started snickering before Kasamatsu waved a hand to dismiss the subject.

"Ah, no reason."

 **The Kaijo coach blinked in confusion and looked around at the team.**

" **Which one of you is the coach?" he asked.**

" **That's me," said Riko, flashing a small polite smile. The coach was even more surprised when she spoke up.**

" **You?" he said in disbelief. "You're not the manager?"**

 **For a second, Riko seemed agitated by his false claim, but smiled politely once more and stepped forward.**

" **I'm coach Aida Riko," she said and bowed. "We look forward to playing with you today!" He put his hand on the back of his head.**

" **Uh, yeah."**

"Why does everyone assume I'm a manager just because I'm a girl?" Riko grumbled. "My players still managed to kick everyone's ass in the Winter Cup!"

"Yeah, we know, we know," Hyuuga said, patting her on the pack twice. "It's over and done with and we all know you're good."

 **Riko motioned to the other side of the court where the rest of Kaijo's team was doing regular practice. "So, um… What's this?"**

" **Exactly what it looks like," Coach Takeuchi replied. "We've only made simple arrangements for today's game." The rest of Seirin was now beginning to get agitated as well.**

" **Arrangements?" Riko repeated.**

" **There won't be enough to learn from this game to make it worth watching for the guys sitting out," Coach Takeuchi bluntly explained. Riko was practically shaking with anger.**

" **I see," she managed to reply, forcing herself to make another polite smile.**

" **We're having the other players practice as usual so we don't waste time." The coach looked down at the clipboard he was holding in his hand.**

" **Despite the arrangements, you'll be playing our regulars," he continued on to say. "I hope you won't let us triple your score."**

 **As he arrogantly walked away, Riko's fists clenched and she suddenly became surrounded by a blue fire while every single vein in her head popped one by one, and she gave the Kaijo coach the most vicious death stare while smiling and chuckling like a crazy person.**

Most of the people in the room had their mouths open from the shock. How could a coach talk to a rivaling team like that?

"Man…" Imayoshi said after inhaling a breath. "Your coach really doesn't mince his words, does he?" Kaijo sweat-dropped.

"He never really had a way with words-ssu…" Kise said, adding a nervous laugh.

"On behalf of our coach, we're sorry for underestimating you," Kobori said to Seirin.

"It's okay," Izuki said to him. "We couldn't really blame you, really."

"Yeah," said Kawahara. "I'm sure our coach isn't mad anymore."

"Uh, you might wanna backtrack on that," Fukuda said to him. Seirin all looked over at their coach, who suddenly began to mimic her former self on screen, the dark aura surrounding her as she gripped onto the table so tightly she could almost rip a piece of it off.

"Someone hold her down before she kills you all!" Hyuuga screamed. Izuki hummed in thought.

"Murdering the entire of Kaijo, huh? What a killer first thought."

"IZUKI. NOW IS NOT THE TIME."

 **Aside from Riko who was obviously not even bothering to hide her anger, the rest of Seirin stood looking annoyed at the man's rude words. Even Kuroko looked somewhat ruffled.**

" **They think we suck," Kagami said bitterly. Kuroko looked up to his light who he saw was giving a glare to Coach Takeuchi almost as intensely as their own coach. "They're treating this like a sideshow to their practice." Kuroko just smiled and faced forward once again.**

"Eh? Tetsu-kun, why are you smiling?" Momoi asked.

"Well," Kuroko began. "I was just happy to see that Kagami-kun wasn't going to take their coach's words lying down. I was originally going to say something to him, but after I saw him, I realized I didn't need to."

"Of course not," said Aomine. "This hot-headed idiot can get fired up all on his own."

"Mine-chin is the same," Murasakibara drawled. Miyaji raised a brow.

"In what aspect? Being a hot-headed idiot or getting fired up on his own?"

"Both," Midorima replied. Kagami snickered to himself while Aomine looked offended.

"Damn you, Midorima!"

 **On the other side of the half court, Kise was putting on his basketball uniform.**

" **There we go," he said, adjusting his shorts. His coach came up behind him.**

" **Kise, why are you wearing your uniform? You're not playing." Kise blinked.**

" **Eh?"**

"'Eh?' is right," said Kimura. "Why aren't you playing? I thought you participated in the practice match."

"I did-ssu," said Kise. "Just keep watching and you'll see."

" **I know we've got star players from all the middle schools," said his coach "but you're on a whole different level."**

"Okay, I can see where he's coming from," said Mibuchi. "His point seems somewhat valid."

"Annoying, but valid," said Aomine. Kise poked him in the side.

"Just admit that I'm good, Aominecchi!"

 **Kise seemed horrified at the proposition of him not playing. He immediately walked over to Coach Takeuchi and gave him a pleading smile.**

" **Don't do that, coach," he begged. "Seriously, stop saying that." The coach turned away from him.**

" **If I let you play, it won't even be a game anymore." With that, he walked away, leaving Kise to stare at him in disappointment.**

"You really wanted to play, didn't you?" Susa asked the blonde copycat. Kise nodded fervently.

"Of course-ssu!" he proclaimed. "I would never miss an opportunity to play against Kurokocchi's team!"

"How did you even get to play after this anyway?" Kiyoshi asked. "He wanted you on the bench, didn't he?"

"Oh, you'll find _that_ part out later," Kagami said with a grin on his face. Kuroko frowned.

"You don't have to sound so smug about it, Kagami-kun," he told him. The other teams simply stared at them and wondered what on earth was about to happen.

 **Kise looked back at Seirin, who were even more irritated by the coach's words.**

" **Just listen to him," Hyuuga said in irritation.**

" **I haven't been this pissed in a while," Izuki added behind him.**

 **Kise immediately ran over to Seirin.**

" **I'm sorry. Seriously, sorry," he said. "I'll be on the bench." Instead of leaving it there, he leaned closer and pointed to his teammates.**

" **If you give these guys a beating, I'm sure he'll put me in."**

"Ah, that's how you got put in," said Kasamatsu. "I was wondering what you were whispering to their team that day."

"That was the reason?" said Moriyama. "So that's why Kagami—"

"Ah! No spoilers, Moriyama-senpai!" Kise cried. "Let the others see what happens."

"Alright, alright."

Everyone's attention was now shifted to Kagami. Seriously, what did he do?

 **After hearing Kise's words, they finally understood what they had to do, but Kise had one more thing to say.**

" **Besides…"**

 **Seirin looked up at him. Kise was smirking as he eyed the lot of them.**

" **If you can't force him to put me in, you shouldn't go around saying you'll beat the Generation of Miracles."**

"That's a fairly good point, actually," said Mayuzumi. Mibuchi nodded.

"I agree," he said. "Considering how cruel the team's lineup was this past year, this kind of thing was a key motivator." Kasamatsu absentmindedly clapped him on the back, his eyes on the screen.

"Nicely said," he told Kise. Kise just sat there with a satisfied grin on his face.

 **Suddenly the coach called him from the other side of the court.**

" **Hey, show the Seirin guys to the locker room."**

" **It's fine," said Kuroko. Kise turned around to see them all walking away already. "Please warm up. We don't have time to wait."**

" **Eh?" As Kise watched them go, he looked stunned for a minute, but then grinned instead.**

"Damn. Somebody's salty," Aomine mumbled. Kuroko simply just sighed.

"In all fairness, Aomine-kun, if you were just badmouthed for several minutes, you would be in a foul mood too."

"But Aomine gets mad over anything, though," Kagami pointed out. Aomine jerked his head towards him.

"No, I don't, Bakagami! And mind your own business!"

"It's kind of true, Dai-chan," Momoi said from near them. "Like last week when you got mad because the store didn't have the magazine you wanted."

"Eh? Magazine?" Hayama echoed. "Like a clothing magazine or something?"

"No, Hayama," Akashi deadpanned. "Not that kind of magazine…"

"Well then, what kind?"

"Excuse me," Kuroko said suddenly. "But can we please not discuss this kind of topic here?"

 **The screen cut to the beginning of the match, where each team was beginning to line up.**

" **Let the practice game between Seirin High and Kaijo High begin!"**

" **Alright, let's go!"**

 **Soon enough, the teams were face to face, ready to fight, but the referee seemed to be concerned about something, looking frantically back and forth between the team members.**

" **Uh, we're about to get started, so Seirin, please have your five lined up."**

"Oh, here we go again," Wakamatsu sighed.

"I guess by now we know the situation," said Otsubo. Kimura nodded next to him sagely.

" **There's five of us."**

 **The referee looked to his left and finally spotted Kuroko who was signaling him. Everyone on Kaijo's team and the referee was all taken aback by his sudden appearance.**

"Now that I think about it, it's hard to believe that this kind of thing actually happens," said Kasamatsu. "This type of reaction looks like something straight out of a cartoon."

"In terms of reactions, Kaijo can be pretty expressive, huh?" Koganei said. Mitobe nodded.

"I've seen worse," said Kuroko. Everyone turned to Kuroko.

"Really?" said Himuro. "Who's was the worst?"

"Aomine-kun's," he replied. It was almost like Aomine could physically feel how many eyebrows were raised in the room as a sense of dread crept up his body.

"Aomine's, you said?" Imayoshi asked. "Momoi, is that true?"

"I didn't see his reaction to meeting Tetsu-kun for the first time," she began. "But I know that since we were kids, he's been very easy to scare." Aomine frowned at the unusual gleam coming from Imayoshi's glasses.

"Oho, is that so~? Thank you for the data." A shiver went down his spine.

 _Dammit, Satsuki!_

 **Kuroko's appearance was so surprising, it even took the people practicing off guard.**

" **What the hell?"**

" **He's got no presence."**

" **He's one of their starters?"**

 **The screen panned over to the five Kaijo players. Among them were four of Kaijo's usual starters, Kasamatsu, Kobori, Moriyama and Hayakawa.**

" **He was right in front of me, and I didn't even notice him," Kobori whispered to the rest of his team. "What about you, Kasamatsu?"**

" **Me neither," he responded.**

"Ah, finally we get some lines in this episode!" Kobori said. "I kept seeing us in the background and it was killing me to wait for us to speak."

"(I) have(n't) gotten a (speak)ing line (y)et!" Hayakawa exclaimed. The others looked at him.

 _Even if you did we still wouldn't be able to understand what you're saying._

" **This is ridiculous," said Coach Takeuchi. He looked relatively unamused. "After all their boasting, I thought they'd have some decent players."**

"And I thought you'd have some respect, you ignorant cow," Riko growled from her seat. "I feel like punching something." The first-year trio looked over at their brooding coach.

"Uwah, the coach is going into clutch time," Kawahara whispered.

"She isn't really gonna punch something, is she?" Fukuda asked.

"I don't care what she punches," Furihata told them. "It's okay as long as it's not me!"

" **We'll see," Kise replied from next to him. He was leaning forward in his place on the bench, watching earnestly. "You might be right. They're not just decent."**

"Kise-kun seems to be very observant in this episode," Kuroko said.

"Eh? You think so?" Kise replied. "It's because I wanted to see Seirin's power up close-ssu! If I was gonna be on the bench, I might as well put my time to good use."

 **Soon, everyone got into positions and the referee held the ball while the two players in the center were to face off.**

 **As Kuroko and Hyuuga flanked Moriyama on either side, a bunch of numbers and stats appeared around him.**

" **Ouch," Riko mumbled.**

" **What's wrong, coach?" Koganei asked her. Riko just remained silent.**

 _ **This doesn't look good,**_ **she thought. She continued to eye the other Kaijo players, more and more stats appearing on screen as she focused on each individual member.** _ **I can't see everything through their clothes, but their numbers are way higher than average. Our physical numbers are way behind. Honestly, it's not surprising for a nationally strong team.**_

"I was wondering why you didn't answer me," Koganei said. "I really thought you were trying to ignore me!"

"Those are some super high numbers, though," said Kiyoshi. "No wonder you guys' first practice match was a struggle. Haha!"

"Don't laugh at your own teammates!" Hyuuga yelled.

 _ **We've got Kuroko-kun and Kagami-kun,**_ **Riko continued internally.** _ **But how far can they carry us?**_

"Maybe if they'd get to the game, we'd know by now," said Miyaji. Otsubo laughed.

"Patience is a virtue, Miyaji."

 **At last, the whistle blew, and the ball was thrown up in the air, Kagami and Kobori both jumping for it with an unmistakable intensity. Unfortunately for Seirin, Kobori got it first and passed it to Kasamatsu. He took the ball.**

" **All right."**

"Oh! It's started. It's started," Takao said excitedly, leaning forward in his seat. "Shin-chan, now you can watch the whole thing!" Midorima grunted.

"Be quiet, Takao."

"Personally, I would like to see this game a well," said Akashi. "Since I didn't appear for a while, I was always wondering what happened before the Winter Cup." He folded his arms and gave a small grin. "This should be an interesting match."

The whole room fell silent, attention on the screen. For the teams who hadn't seen the match, they hoped they would not be disappointed.

 **Once Kasamatsu had the ball, all the other players began to make their move and run to the other side of the court. He was calm as he dribbled the ball towards them, holding up a finger in the air.**

" **One. Let's keep it up."**

 **What happened next was unexpected, though. Suddenly, Kuroko came out of nowhere and smacked the ball away from his hand, the ball flying to the other side of the court.**

Most of the room made noises in awe at the sudden steal made by Kuroko.

"Ehhh~ Kuro-chin makes a move already," said Murasakibara. "That was quick."

"Nice one, Tetsu-kun!" Momoi said happily. Kuroko gave a small smile.

"Thank you," he said. "And I had to be quick. When you're trying to make a point to the other team, of course, you have no time to waste."

 **Kasamatsu immediately jerked around, his eyes following the ball in shock.**

 _ **What?**_ **He thought in confusion. It was too late, however. Kuroko was already dribbling to the other side.**

" **Where'd he come from?!" Kasamatsu exclaimed, running to catch up to him.**

"Ah, the momentum is with Seirin now," said Sakurai.

 **Kasamatsu finally caught up to Kuroko, blocking his path by standing in front of him, arms out to defend.**

 _ **He's slow,**_ **he noted mentally.**

"Sorry, never mind, I take that back," Sakurai muttered.

 **Because he was slow, Kasamatsu tried to reach out for the ball, but before he could do anything, Kuroko passed the ball back to Kagami, who caught it instantly and charged past. He made a dunk without any hesitation.**

"Oh, sorry, it's back with Seirin now!" Sakurai said in amazement. "That was an amazing dunk!"

"It gets better," Kagami said, smirking to himself.

 **Everyone stared in awe from down below as they witnessed what just happened. Even their coach was shaken up. Seirin was just watching it all from the sidelines with proud smiles on their faces.**

 **Kagami finally jumped down and landed on his feet.**

" **All right!" he cried in victory. He was happy that he managed to score a dunk, but then it was all replaced with surprise when he looked at his right hand and saw that he was holding the hoop.**

"Ehhhh?!" Takao cried. "You destroyed their hoop?! Man, you're a monster!"

"We were pretty surprised too," said Kasamatsu. "I never thought something like that would happen."

"Heh?" Imayoshi hummed. "I thought Aomine was the only one notorious for this."

"As impressive as it is, it has its demerits," Akashi said. "Back in middle school, broken basketball hoops were a common occurrence."

"Hm? Even in middle school?" Nebuya said in surprise. Akashi nodded.

"It wasn't just Aomine," he added. "Kise was also a repeat offender. And on occasion, Murasakibara would break the hoop. They would get scolded a lot."

"By you?"

"Well—yes, but the coach as well. It could be quite a handful sometimes. On occasion, Midorima would also give them an earful." Midorima huffed.

"They were adrenaline-driven idiots who couldn't control their power, nanodayo," he said. "On top of that, they had no remorse anytime they broke the hoop. It was almost like they competed to see who could break the most." The other teams sweat-dropped.

 _The former captain and vice-captain of Teiko sure have been through a lot…_

 **As soon as Kagami landed back down on the floor with the hoop in his hand, everyone, even the people who were practicing on the other side, went into panic.**

" **What?! He destroyed the hoop!"**

" **You're kidding! I don't believe it!"**

" **That thing's dangerous," Izuki pointed out. "One of the bolts is rusted."**

" **Even so, that's not normal," said Kasamatsu.**

"I knew it couldn't have been just Kagami," Aomine said. "The hoop did most of the work after all."

"What do you mean you knew?" Kagami grumbled. "Don't get all high and mighty just because you _think_ you're better than me."

"Please, I _am_ better than you," Aomine retorted back. "And in this episode, you were still at that stage where you could barely keep up with Kise. I refuse to believe that any decent play you make at this stage is intentional."

"Why I oughta—GEH!"

Kagami began rubbing his side that Kuroko just jabbed. The Phantom Sixth Man looked at him with a neutral expression.

"Please keep it down, Kagami-kun. I would like to finish this episode by today." Aomine snickered.

"Yeah, Kagami, you're botherin' Tetsu—OW!"

Now Aomine was rubbing his side, glaring at the boy he was trying to defend. He looked relatively unfazed.

"You too, Aomine-kun."

"Yeah, whatever…"

" **This thing is bigger than I thought," Kagami said suddenly.**

" **I'm so sorry!" Riko said to Kaijo's coach, bowing in apology.**

" **I'm sorry we broke your hoop," said Kuroko, approaching with Kagami, who did not look sorry at all for what he did, grinning as he held the hoop like an award. "Since we can't play like this, could we use the full court?"**

 **The coach did not look happy.**

"Seriously," said Himuro. "Your coach is getting very upset about the fact that he now has to admit that Seirin is good."

"That's 'cause he was trash-talking before, talking about tripling our score," Kagami told him in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "That's what he gets for underestimating us!"

 **Regardless of how angry the coach looked, Seirin got their wish and Kaijo began making preparations to play on the full court. The broken hoop was left forgotten in the corner. Kise began laughing.**

" **Now that's what you call a beating," he said.**

" **Huh?" Kagami grunted, turning to face him.**

" **I've never seen the coach like that before," Kise explained.**

" **You should tell him that's what he gets for underestimating us!"**

"Wow," said Takao, looking back at Kagami. "It's been almost a year and Kagami is still saying the same things."

"Because it's true!" Kagami cried. "Even Akashi doesn't do that, and he's better than all of us!"

"It's called common sense," Akashi replied, folding his arms. "Regardless of whether the opponent is strong or weak, players who underestimate another rival's skills are the same people who overestimate their own. I am a lot of things, but boastful is one thing I am no longer."

Most people turned back to the TV after hearing him speak, but Kagami took one last glance at Akashi before turning away.

' _No longer', huh?_

 **As Kagami finished talking, Kuroko began to get pack to the rest of the team.**

" **How much do you think a replacement hoop will cost?"**

" **Huh?!" Kagami cried out in horror. "We have to pay for that?"**

"No shit, dumbass!" Hyuuga said, flicking Kagami on the forehead. "Did you think you would walk away and let the coach pay for it?"

"How much does a replacement hoop cost, anyway?" Reo inquired. They all turned to Kagami who suddenly looked pale for some reason.

"Uhm… Uh… I don't know."

"Don't tell me…" Midorima began "that you didn't pay them back yet, nanodayo."

"Kagamicchi," Kise sighed. "It's been almost a year. How has coach not caught you yet-ssu?"

"I-I forgot, okay?!" Kagami claimed in defense. "I was so preoccupied with basketball that it slipped my mind."

"That's not true, Kagami-kun, I see you duck out of sight whenever we pass by their coach these days."

"Geh! Kuroko!"

"Ohhhh so that's why he was always hiding behind Kiyoshi-senpai's back," Furihata said in realization. Kiyoshi scratched his head.

"Really?" he said. "I always thought it was because he was shy or something."

"He's not shy, just stupid," Riko deadpanned. "You better pay him back after this training camp is over, _Kagami-kun._ " Kagami jumped a little.

"Y-Yes coach…"

 **Once the preparations were finally finished, a few more people began to watch the game now that the full court was going to be in use. Riko, now satisfied, sat by the benches as she watched everyone in their positions.**

" **Let the game resume," said the referee.**

 **Suddenly, a new pair of shoes stepped onto the court, the camera panning up to reveal Kise. A few gasps and noises of awe were heard from around the room. He smirked mischievously.**

" **Sorry to keep you waiting."**

"Yay! Finally, I get to play!" Kise said cheerfully. "Please watch, everyone!"

Everyone did as they were told and leaned closer to the TV. The match they were waiting for was about to begin.

" **You're finally in," said Kagami. Hyuuga, who was standing beside him, was grinning.**

" **You're way too intense for a model when you come in."**

" **He not just putting on a show," said Kuroko.**

 **The screen panned over to Riko's eyes, which were wide with interest as she eyed Kise. His numbers were extremely high. More than anyone else's.**

 _ **Seeing him again, I can tell Kise Ryouta really is a monster.**_

 **Out of nowhere, there was a bunch of screaming, and Riko looked over to find a crowd of girls watching and squealing.**

" **Kise-kun, over here!"**

" **He's so hot!"**

The other teams watched as the GoM groaned in unison at the sight.

"Just listening to this gives me a headache, nanodayo," Midorima grumbled. "This always used to happen in middle school."

"I can only imagine what these guys have gone through," said Liu. "That's a lot of fangirls."

"But isn't that a plus for you guys?" Fukui asked. "Girls are nice, aren't they?"

"Not when you're trying to hold practice," Akashi reminded him. "They made too much noise so it was distracting. Even more so when _someone_ would go and _flirt_ with them in the middle of practice." He pointedly looked at Aomine, and everyone else followed Akashi's gaze in question. Aomine looked left, looked right, then shrugged.

"Hey, if I see big boobs, I go for it."

Aomine's team sighed at his words.

"Honestly," said Wakamatsu. "I've seen wild animals less impulsive than this guy."

"The girls came to the practice for Kise-kun, didn't they?" said Imayoshi. "Surely they wouldn't be interested."

"Unfortunately, Aomine-kun was very persistent," said Kuroko. Susa shook his head in exasperation.

"Oh, brother…"

" **Huh? What's all that?" Hyuuga asked, looking back at the large group of girls that Kise was now waving to.**

" **Oh, that?" said Kasamatsu. "This happens every time he plays. And…"**

 **Suddenly Kasamatsu started running and then leaped up in the air, sending a flying kick towards Kise's back.**

" **Quit waving to them! I'll hit you!"**

Most people in the room started howling with laughter, Aomine, and Kagami especially, laughing and pointing at a sulking Kise. The blonde copycat folded his arms.

"Why is it always me-ssu?" he complained. "I don't see anyone else getting kicked like I do."

"Because they know how to behave," said Kasamatsu. "Want me to kick you again?"

"No—please! I'm fine, senpai!"

" **Ow!" Kise whined, standing up from the floor. "You already hit me, Kasamatsu-senpai." Kasamatsu stepped forward until he was right in Kise's face, looking rather serious.**

" **Do you understand what's going on, Kise?" he asked him. "Who the hell is number 10?"**

"Finally, some recognition," said Kagami. The rest of Seirin looked at him.

"You don't need it," they replied.

" **Number 10?" Kise repeated. "Oh, that's Kagami."**

" **Kagami? I've never heard of him."**

" **Forget about him," said Kise, dismissing the topic. "The guy who stole the ball, number 11… That's my teammate from Teiko, Kurokocchi. Isn't he amazing? Right, right?"**

" **Why are you so happy?" Kasamatsu grunted, punching Kise in the stomach.**

"Ki-chan is always happy at the mention of Tetsu-kun," said Momoi.

"It's annoying," Murasakibara mumbled. "Makes me wanna crush him."

"Murasakibaracchi, please go back to eating your snacks…"

" **In any case, they gave us quite a greeting," said Kasamatsu. "It'd be rude if we didn't return the favor." Kise understood and gave him a smirk.**

 **The whistle blew them back in to continue the match. Once they were back in, Kaijo had possession of the ball once more, Kasamatsu dribbling down the court. Kise was running down the court as well. Kagami was trying to pin him down, but it didn't work. He blew past all the defenders and Kasamatsu bounced the ball between Hyuuga's legs. From there, Kise then caught it and jumped towards the basket, making a very powerful dunk. The fangirls watching went wild.**

A few whistles were heard around the room as Kise scored. The first-year trio of Seirin looked at Kise in awe.

"You know," said Fukuda. "I forgot how scary Kise can be when he's serious."

"It's true," said Kuroko. "Once Kise-kun gets going, he becomes a very dangerous weapon."

"They're not wrong," said Takao. "Would love/hate to face him in a one-on-one. Nice dunk, man." Kise laughed.

"Thanks!"

 **Kise hung onto the hoop for a bit longer before finally jumping down and landing on the floor. However, Kasamatsu ran up to kick him again, much to his dismay.**

" **You idiot! I told you to break it!"**

" **Sorry!"**

"But wouldn't that be impractical?" said Moriyama. "If Kise broke the hoop, then we wouldn't be able to have a game at all."

"Shut up," Kasamatsu mumbled.

 **Kagami on the other hand was still staring at the hoop that Kise was just hanging from, looking slightly unnerved.**

 _ **He dunked that harder than I did,**_ **he thought.**

"Thank you for giving me credit where it's due, Kagamicchi!" Kise cried, throwing his arms around him. "I knew I could count on you!"

"Get off me! Stop being weird!"

 **Kise and Kasamatsu were returning to their positions, and Kagami watched them as they walked by.**

" **I can't say the same for girls," Kise began. "But I've never failed to return a favor on the court."**

"How crass of you to admit that you're shallow, Kise-kun," Kuroko deadpanned.

"This is why he doesn't have a girlfriend," said Aomine.

"No," said Akashi. "I'm fairly certain that if he had a girlfriend, his fangirls would have hunted her down."

"I could see that," said Mayuzumi.

"Stop attacking me-ssu!"

 **Kagami gave him a death glare. "Bring it on!"**

 **Next, Seirin had possession of the ball and Hyuuga was dribbling it down the court. He passed it to Kuroko who changed the ball's course and directed it to Kagami who caught it and made his way to the basket.**

 _ **Him again!**_ **Kasamatsu thought in disbelief.** _ **Who is he?**_

"I am Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you."

"We know who you are, Tetsu!"

 **Kagami went and jumped for a dunk and jammed the ball in, landing perfectly on both his feet.**

" **Let's go all out!" he screamed.**

" **Yeah!" the other starters shouted back.**

 **Kise and Kasamatsu just looked on while grinning. They were now expecting a great challenge from Seirin.**

"What?" Takao squawked. "You mean ripping the hoop off the backboard wasn't you going all out? What are you? A war machine?"

"Basically," the rest of Seirin said.

 **Going back to the game, everyone was in gear running down the court, Kagami running alongside Kise and Izuki following after. Kasamatsu had the ball and Hyuuga was closely marking him. Riko, who was standing by the bench, looked shocked as she watched them go back and forth.**

" **What is this?" she said.**

 **"What's with this high-paced play?" Koganei asked.**

"Ah, the classic run-and-gun play," said Okumura. "Typical Seirin, eh? I'm not surprised."

"Kaijo is pretty quick on their feet as well," said Otsubo. "They're not called the blue elites for nothing."

 **Kasamatsu bounced the ball under Hyuuga's legs and Kise caught it from the other side. Another shot showed Kuroko passing with his Misdirection. Three minutes in and the score was already 16 to 17 as Kagami made another dunk.**

" **It's only been three minutes since they started!" said Koganei. He and the other starters, including the coach looked very concerned.**

 **Kise grabbed the ball again and dunked it with a lot of force. Riko stood shocked on the sidelines.**

 _ **It's like they're beating each other without bothering to guard.**_

 **An image of a spear trying to pierce through a sword occupied the background.** _ **The defense is doing everything it can, but both teams' offenses are just too strong.**_ **The shield began to crack and suddenly the spear pierced through.** _ **This is a clash of the Generation of Miracles,**_ **she thought, the screen flashing to those mysterious five figures standing on a court.**

"This game is getting pretty intense," said Takao. "I wish I could've been there to see it."

"You would have if you hurried up, nanodayo," said Midorima. The others looked at him. What was he talking about?

 **Hyuuga caught the ball and tried to drive past Moriyama, but it was to no avail.**

 _ **The other four are just as intense as Kise,**_ **he thought solemnly.** _ **This is almost more than I can handle. If not for Kuroko and Kagami, they'd have won this game already.**_

"Thank you for the praise, captain," said Kuroko. Hyuuga was awkwardly scratching his head.

"W-Well," he said. "I wasn't trying to compliment you, dumbass. But you're welcome I guess."

"What's this? Hyuuga is getting shy!"

"Shut your mouth, Kiyoshi."

 **Izuki passed to Kuroko, and Kuroko passed to Kagami. From there, Kagami and Kise went head to head before jumping back and aiming to shoot. Spectators were shocked.**

" **From that speed, he's going into a fadeaway?"**

"If there's one thing Taiga's good at, it's acting right after deacceleration," said Himuro. "Even I have trouble blocking him when he stops so suddenly."

 **Kagami shot the ball from where he was but was shocked to find that Kise had caught up to him, blocking the ball from going in. Now that he had the ball, he began dribbling to the other side of the court. Once he was close enough to the basket, Kise did a perfect imitation of Kagami's fadeaway.**

 _ **A fadeaway? He's copying me again.**_

 **The difference between Kagami's and Kise's unfortunately, was that Kise made the shot.**

 _ **And he keeps getting better!**_

"Well that's gotta suck," said Hayama. "Did he copy your moves a lot in this game?"

"Yeah," Kagami replied. "It was annoying as hell."

" **Don't stop! Move your feet!" Hyuuga told his team. He was dribbling the ball when he heard a voice out of nowhere.**

" **Captain…"**

 **He screamed and fumbled the ball before regaining composure and realizing that it was just Kuroko calling him from behind.**

" **Where'd you come from? Why are you talking to me?"**

"Even during games, he can still throw you off guard?" said Mibuchi. "That's almost impressive."

"That used to happen back in middle school sometimes," said Aomine. "He'd make a lot of people fumble the ball because he would suddenly pop up and speak out of nowhere."

Everyone began to stare at Kuroko, who just looked over, shrugged, and went back to watching.

" **I want a time out," Kuroko told him. "This high pace is taking its toll on my body."**

" **What? How can you be so weak?"**

"How can you be so savage?" said Nebuya. "Give the kid a break."

"To be fair," said Mayuzumi. "It had only been like five minutes."

"My stamina is very low," said Kuroko. "I get tired easily."

"We know," the other teams replied.

" **Also," Kuroko continued. "we need Kagami-kun to cool down." It began flashing back to Kagami's plays near the beginning of the game.**

" **The harder Kagami-kun plays, the harder Kise-kun plays. At this rate, it'll take everything we have just to keep up and it will only get worse."**

"Ohhhh, that's clever, Kurokocchi," Kise said. "I thought you were taking a break because you were tired-ssu."

"I was, but it was a secondary reason," Kuroko explained. "Kagami-kun was going too hard."

"That's what he gets for being a hot-headed idiot," Riko mumbled.

"But he's _our_ hot-headed idiot!" Koganei exclaimed. Kagami sighed.

"This isn't making me feel any better."

 **Hyuuga stared at Kuroko with a slightly surprised look on his face.**

 _ **He's talking more than usual. Could this be worse than I thought?**_ **Hyuuga looked over to Riko to see that she was about ready to call a timeout herself.** _ **Looks like it. The coach must be thinking the same thing.**_

 **Once the ball went out of the court, the whistle blew to pause the game**

" **Seirin, time out."**

"Quick thinking," said Kiyoshi. "It wouldn't have ended well if you guys kept going as is."

"I'll say," said Hyuuga. "Kuroko and coach seemed to be extremely telepathic that day."

 **Once the timeout was called, everyone sat tiredly down on the benches, replenishing themselves with water and wiping their sweat with towels. It'd take a miracle to not hear how hard they were breathing. Riko was watching her team with a grave expression.**

 _ **They're way too tired for playing for just five minutes,**_ **she thought.** _ **It's not unreasonable. They've been switching between offense and defense at an absurd rate.**_ **Suddenly she was brought out of her thoughts by a loud booming voice.**

" **WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"**

A few people in the room jumped at the sudden shouting.

"Is that your coach?" Takao asked. Kaijo did nothing but sigh wearily.

"Yeah, that's him," said Moriyama. "He can get pretty worked up sometimes."

"No kidding-ssu," said Kise. "He's kinda scary."

"Eh, I'm used to it," said Kasamatsu. "Besides, when he yells, there's this vein in his forehead that pops out and his face starts turning red. It's funny as hell." Takao sweat-dropped.

"I guess that's one way to look at it…"

" **How many points are you gonna let them take?!" Coach Takeuchi continued to yell. "Is the defense asleep? Huh?!"**

" **Sorry," Kobori said to their coach.**

"I mean, I'm not going to say that your coach doesn't have the right to be worked up," said Himuro. "But isn't he too angry right now?"

"It's because he still didn't want to acknowledge our skill yet," said Hyuuga. "Instead of accepting the fact that we don't suck, he thought it was better to just think that his team wasn't winning because they were slacking off."

"Well we showed him," said Kagami.

" **This isn't easy," Moriyama said to Kasamatsu.**

" **Yeah. That first-year duo is brutal," Kasamatsu replied. He turned to Kise. "You should be able to handle Kagami…" he trailed off, thinking back to the times when Kuroko would steal the ball from him. "But what's with that invisible Kuroko guy?"**

 **Kise immediately perked up and started smiling at the mention of his former teammate.**

" **I know, right?" he said excitedly. "Kurokocchi's actually…"**

" **Why the hell are you so happy?" Kasamatsu demanded, punching Kise in the side.**

"Kise-chin is always happy when you talk about Kuro-chin," Murasakibara drawled. "It's kinda noisy…"

" _Why_ is he always happy though?" Hayama asked. Murasakibara shrugged.

"Dunno~."

"Well, I wouldn't blame him. Kuroko-kun is cute."

"Thank you, Mibuchi-san," Kuroko said from the other side of the room. "And I think Kise-kun likes me because I was his mentor when he started out on the first string."

"Oh yeah, you did tell us that," said Miyaji. "But why were you his mentor?"

"I'm not really sure," said Kuroko. "After all, I didn't volunteer. I was picked."

"We'll probably figure out soon enough," said Kimura.

 **Kise finally took his hand away from his side.**

" **It's okay," he said. Kasamatsu looked up at him, mildly surprised at the face he was making. He was giving a reassured smirk. "The balance will tip soon enough."**

 **Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, Riko was looking through some different strategies they could use on a little board with pieces laid out on it to represent the players and positions.**

" **We have to deal with Kise-kun first," she said.**

" **I can't believe Kagami can't handle him by himself," said Hyuuga. "Should we put another guy on him?"**

"Really?" said Aomine. "Even though he got dunked on by Kise in the last episode against his own move?"

"You shut up, Ahomine."

 **After Kagami heard Hyuuga say that, he immediately shot up in his seat.**

" **Hey, wait!" He paused and looked up. "…Please…" Riko raised an eyebrow.**

" **Please?"**

"Isn't that adorable?" said Imayoshi. "Kagami's learning manners. I hope you gave him a sticker for his efforts."

"Ah, we didn't!" Koganei exclaimed. He patted Kagami on the head. "Don't worry, Kagami-chan, we'll give you a sticker afterward. Right Mitobe?" Mitobe gave a nod. Kagami was growling from under him.

"I don't want it," he said. "And stop talking in that baby voice, please."

"See, Mibuchi-san?" Kuroko said. "I told you he grew into it."

" **There is a way," said Kuroko. Everyone turned to him. As his face was shown on screen, half of the screen panned back to Kasamatsu and Kise talking on the bench.**

" **What's that supposed to mean?" said Kasamatsu.**

" **It's because…" said Kise.**

" **They have a weakness," Kuroko and Kise said at the same time.**

"What kind of telepathic connection is that?" said Takao. "For all the things people say about you two not being compatible, you're pretty in sync this episode." Kise jumped for joy.

"Yay! I'm telepathic with Kurokocchi!" he said. "We're pretty psychic, right?"

"Is that so?" said Kuroko. "In that case, Kise-kun, what number am I thinking of?"

"Eh? Um…" Kise thought for a second. "Two?"

"You would be correct," said Kuroko. "Do you know why I was thinking of the number two?"

"No. Why?"

"Because that's how many chances you have left before I Ignite Pass your face. Please sit properly and watch the rest of the episode."

"So mean Kurokocchi!"

 **Riko blinked in surprise. "A weakness?" she repeated.**

" **What?" Hyuuga said. "You should've told us sooner."**

"You may have already realized," said Akashi. "But it's very common that Kuroko tells you things that he should have told you sooner."

"Doesn't that get annoying?" said Mayuzumi. Akashi shrugged.

"Well, that just depends on what he should have said earlier."

"Like what?"

" **No, to be honest," Kuroko continued. "I'm not even sure you could call it a weakness. Either way, I'm sorry. There's another problem. Because of the unexpectedly high-paced play, my effectiveness is already wearing off." Hyuuga's eyes widened.**

" **Wh-What?" Even Riko was horrified.**

"Like that," Akashi replied. The other teams looked on in shock.

 _Kuroko… What a strange guy._

" **They won't be able to use their Misdirection after forty minutes," said Kise. Kasamatsu looked at him, confused.**

" **Misdi… What?"**

"Why do all you Miracles have weird names and terminology for all your moves?" said Wakamatsu. "It's obnoxious trying to remember them all!"

"It was Aomine's idea to name them, nanodayo," said Midorima. "It was either that or just describing the move which, I admit, would take too long. Naming them seemed to be the most convenient option."

"Some of these names sound a bit cheesy though," said Moriyama.

"To be fair," said Kuroko. "We did name them in middle school."

 **"Kurokocchi's lack of presence isn't magic," Kise explained. He picked up the basketball from the floor. "He's just directing your attention elsewhere. Even I can do it. Watch me."**

 **With an expressionless face, Kise chucked the ball over his head and Kasamatsu watched it bounce away.**

" **See?" Kise said. "You're not looking at me."**

 **Kasamatsu was shocked at how easy it was for Kise to direct his attention away from him, staring back in surprise. Kise merely smirked.**

" **Kurokocchi's using his exceptional observation skills to do this continuously, creating the illusion he disappeared so he can pass the ball around. Not that he has to do anything special to have no presence. But the more he uses it, the more we get used to it, and its effect gradually decreases."**

"Wow, Kise-san is very good at explaining things like this," said Sakurai.

"Kise-kun picks things up very quickly," said Kuroko. "So even though he has less experience in basketball compared to us, he still knows all of our tricks in and out. Kise-kun is more of an observer than me."

"More than you?" said Liu. "But isn't observing people lines of sight your specialty?"

"It is," said Kuroko. "But if you think about it, Kise-kun's observation skills are at a level when he can look at you once and copy your moves down to the last detail. I could never accomplish such a thing." Kise was practically dancing in his seat.

"Oh, Kurokocchi! You're too kind!"

" **Why didn't you tell us something so important sooner?!"**

 **Riko was already putting Kuroko in a chokehold while the other members watched in horror, not knowing whether to intervene or just let it happen. Kuroko was struggling to speak in the midst of being essentially throttled.**

" **I'm sorry. You didn't ask," he wheezed.**

" **Do you not say anything unless you're asked?!" she shouted, gripping him tighter.**

There were quite a few people snickering in the room as they watched Kuroko suffering on TV.

"Was there this type of reaction in middle school when Kuroko forgot to say something important?" Okamura asked.

"Well, I don't recall ever putting him in a chokehold," said Akashi. "But it can cause trouble on occasion."

 _ **I must not have been thinking. I was stupid to think we could pull this ridiculous strategy off without any risk.**_ **The whistle blew once more.**

" **Your time out is over."**

" **Ah! All I got to do was hit Kuroko-kun!"**

The room was filled with laughter once again as members of Seirin began to shake their heads watching their own antics unfold.

"Watching Seirin really does feel like a comedy sit-com!" Momoi said. "Tetsu-kun's team really has a knack for entertaining."

"I don't even know if we should take that as a compliment," said Hyuuga.

 **When everyone was going back out, Kagami turned to Riko.**

" **Let me stay on him, please," he said.**

" **Why are you acting so polite?" Riko deadpanned.**

"Yeah, it's kinda creepy," said Aomine.

"It's like kids who suck up to their parents all of a sudden when they want something," said Moriyama.

"Well, coach is like the mom of the group," Kuroko said. "So it would make sense."

"Yeah, the mom who can't cook," Hyuuga mumbled. Riko jerked her head to him.

"What was that, Hyuuga-kun~?" He gulped.

"N-Nothing coach…"

" **I have the feeling that I'm about to get something," Kagami explained. He ran off, leaving Riko to call after him.**

" **Hey, wait!"**

" **Switch from man-to-man to zone defense," Riko told the team. "Keep solid defense on the inside, and move to stop Kise-kun quickly. Stopping Kise-kun is your first priority."**

 **"Got it," they said and ran to get in their positions.**

"Kagami, what it is you're getting on to?" Kiyoshi asked.

"You'll see, Kiyoshi-senpai," he told him.

"I hope it's worth the wait," said Takao. "I need to see some good action here!"

" **Also, slow down your pace, Kuroko-kun," Riko said to the teal-haired boy on the bench. "Just don't let the gap get too big. Can you do that?" Kuroko stood up and began to walk back on the court.**

" **I'll try," he said.**

 **Once again, the whistle blew for the game to start and Kaijo was in possession of the ball. Kise was dribbling when he halted for a second to see that all of Seirin's players were blocking the middle of the court.**

" **They're defending the middle," a spectator in the crowd said.**

 _ **It's just a box-and-one,**_ **Kasamatsu thought. On the side of the screen, it showed the layout of a typical box-and-one defensive strategy.** _ **They're following up with Kagami to stop Kise. I don't believe this.**_

"You know," said Kawahara. "The way that they explain stuff in this anime makes it so easy for anyone who watches to learn about basketball."

"Yeah," said Tsuchida. "If we were all still rookies, this anime would probably be really useful. They even include diagrams and stuff."

 **While Kagami was standing in front of the idle Kise who was dribbling the ball until without warning, he passed it back. Kasamatsu caught the ball and, despite being marked by Izuki, made a perfect jump shot that swished cleanly through the net. The crowd went wild as Kaijo's score went from 25 to 28, putting them six points ahead of Seirin.**

" **A three-pointer!"**

" **You got it, Kasamatsu! You got it, Kasamatsu!" the crowd cheered.**

"Kaijo sure does have a lot of hype," said Susa. "Do they do that for every practice game?"

"Pretty much," said Kasamatsu. "It's a big help, especially when the team's morale is down."

"Half of them are Kise's fangirls though," Kobori sighed.

" **Are you underestimating the Kaijo regulars?" Kasamatsu said, grinning to the crowd. "This is too pathetic."**

 **Hyuuga and Izuki were standing by the basket, Hyuuga wiping a bit of sweat from his chin.**

" **Man, this is tough," he panted. Riko and the others on the bench continued to watch in silence.**

 **As the crowd continued to cheer while Kagami had the ball, he attempted to drive past Kise but saw Kuroko at the side instead. He passed to him, but the pass was quickly intercepted by Moriyama, who took it to the other side and made a shot. Kuroko looked on in surprise.**

" **I see," Moriyama said in satisfaction to Kasamatsu. "I think I'm getting used to it." The crowd began to cheer again.**

" **You got it, Moriyama! You got it, Moriyama!" There were two minutes and twenty seconds left in the first quarter, but the score was now 25 to 33, Kaijo in the lead.**

"Eight points? That rough," said Takao.

"Indeed," said Midorima. "Once the point difference in a game gets to ten points, it can be very difficult to wipe the lead again, nanodayo."

"You're telling us," said Izuki. "You Miracles barely have that problem."

"He's not wrong," said Aomine.

" **This isn't good," said Izuki. Hyuuga looked over at him.**

" **What should we do, Izuki?"**

" **Yeah."**

"What the hell kind of answer was that?" Hyuuga said, whacking him across the head. "I didn't really pay attention to it much, but now that I'm watching it again I realized how stupid you just sounded." Izuki, suddenly put on the spotlight was now slightly embarrassed.

"Well sorry!" he cried. "I meant yeah as in 'Yeah, what do we do?'. That makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Only by the smallest margin," said Hyuuga. "The next time I ask you what to do and you say 'yeah', I'm throwing a basketball at your face."

" **Dammit. The gap's getting bigger," Koganei said in dismay.**

 **Going back to the game, Mitobe caught the ball and began dribbling and passed to Kagami, who jumped for a dunk. But Kise jumped as well and effortlessly deflected the shot, the ball bouncing away. The referee blew the whistle.**

" **Out of bounds. White ball."**

 **Kagami stood there panting after he landed back on the ground. Kise turned to face him.**

" **Why don't you acknowledge it already?" he said. Kagami turned around.**

" **Huh?"**

" **You're years away from challenging the Generation of Miracles."**

" **What'd you say?"**

"Oooooh, Kise's getting mouthy again," said Takao. "What're you gonna do about it?"

"A beating should suffice," said Kasamatsu. "I've told him enough times to stop trash-talking his opponents."

"No, wait!" Kise cried. "Please don't kill me, I'm sorry!"

" **The gap between our scores might get bigger, but it certainly won't get any smaller," Kise said to Kagami. "More than formations or strategies, basketball is about your build. It's a sport of size."**

An unamused Akashi raised an eyebrow. "Is that so, Kise?" Immediately Kise got on his knees and began kowtowing.

"It's not, I swear-ssu! Please have mercy on me Akashicchi!" Kaijo watched their exchange with surprised looks on his face.

"Do you see that?" Kasamatsu said to the rest of his team. "I aspire to be at that level of intimidating where even an eyebrow raise would send someone to their knees begging for mercy."

"You should take notes then," said Moriyama. "I hope you brought a pen and paper."

 **The screen flashed back to Kaijo.**

" **The difference between your team and mine are simply too great," said Kise. "You were the only one who stood a chance against us, but I see now how good you are." In the reflection of Kise's eyes, you could see that Kagami was frowning.**

 **There was a flashback to Seirin's previous plays.**

" **I'll admit that you have potential," he continued "but you're still far below me. "No matter what you throw at me, with one look, I'll return it twice as good." Kagami and Kise continued to have an intense stare down as Kise spoke, neither of their eyes leaving each other.**

" **You can struggle, but you'll never beat me. The real world isn't that easy."**

"It is to Seirin, apparently," said Mibuchi.

"Amen," the other teams said.

 **When Kise was done talking, Kagami had his head down, looking like Kise's words really struck him, when suddenly, he started to chuckle. That chuckle turned into a laugh and soon everyone in the gymnasium could hear Kagami laughing through the silence. Even Kise was confused.**

" **Sorry, sorry," Kagami said, panting as tear of laughter formed in his eyes. "I'm just so happy."**

" **Happy?"**

"Why the hell are you happy, you weirdo?" Aomine said. "He just roasted you. Fucking say something back!"

"I did, I did. Calm down," said Kagami. "It gets better."

" **It's been a long time since anyone's said that to me," Kagami told him. Kise furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.**

" **I hear it all the time over there," said Kagami.**

" **Over there?" Kise repeated.**

" **In America," Kagami clarified. Kise was pleasantly surprised.**

" **Eh? You lived in America?" he said excitedly. "That's amazing."**

"I don't get it," said Miyaji. "How do your facial expressions keep going from 'I will destroy you and everything you love' to 'You're my bestie' in 0.5 seconds?"

"Kise-kun is professionally known for throwing people off guard with his facial expressions," said Kuroko. "It happens a lot."

"Yeah," said Aomine. "There are times when Kise is super friendly to someone, but as soon as a game starts, he'll give them so many dirty looks that they'd think the friendly act was just put on for show."

"Really?" said Himuro. "That's kind of deceptive if you think about it."

"Tatsuya, you can't talk," said Kagami. "You're kind of the same. Even to me!"

" **I thought I jumped the gun coming back here to play," said Kagami. "Hearing you say that is really encouraging, really. Life is all about challenges. There's no point in living if there's no one strong to play." He clenched his fist and grinned. "It's better if I can't win!"**

"Oh! There it is! There it is!" said Hayama, pointing to the screen. "I've been waiting for the whole episode for someone to say it!"

"Now that I think about it," said Himuro. "I should have known it was Taiga saying that from the title of the episode. He likes to challenge himself a lot."

"Believe me, we know," said Hyuuga, clapping Kagami on the shoulder. "He may be a dumbass sometimes, but we could learn a lot from him too." Kagami looked up to his captain and blinked, slightly taken aback by the compliment, but he just smiled a bit and turned back to the TV instead.

 **Kise was shocked as he watched Kagami walk past him.**

" **We're just getting started," said Kagami. "Don't you think it's a little soon to be saying you won? Besides, thanks to you, now I know your weakness." Kise's eyes widened.**

" **What weakness?" All the players around them were watching with baited breath as Kagami stood there with his hands on his hips.**

" **I'm sure it wasn't easy for you to say it yourself," said Kagami. "With one look? What if you don't see it? Against a guy who's already invisible, it's impossible." He turned around to him.**

" **No matter how athletic you are, you'll never achieve an invisible style of basketball. In other words…" Kagami reached for a certain teal-haired player and grabbed him by the head, dragging him over and grinning like a madman.**

" **This guy is your weakness!"**

 **As Kise looked on at Kagami, who had now begun to laugh maniacally, Kuroko simply stood there exasperated.**

" **What are you doing?"**

Finally, the ending theme began to play and everyone took their eyes off the screen.

"Wow, what a conclusion," said Takao.

"I can't believe you found Ki-chan's weakness out like that by just listening to him talk!" Momoi said. "Kagamin, you're clever!" Kiyoshi began patting said Ace's head with an unnecessary amount of force.

"Kagami may not look it, but he can be a very good listener! Hahahaha!"

"Kiyoshi-senpai, my head's gonna cave in! And what do you mean by that?!"

"For just starting out as a team," said Otsubo. "You guys are sure making good use of Kuroko-kun and Kagami-kun's strengths. This game is rather impressive."

"Yeah," said Kimura. "Especially after how much your team was underestimated."

"That tends to be a trend," said Izuki.

"What does? Impressive games?"

"No. Being underestimated."

The other teams looked on in pity. _So sad…_

"Oh, wait, guys!" Kise said pointing to the screen. "The song is finishing, let's see what picture they used!"

Everyone began paying close attention to the screen and saw Kise and Kasamatsu on their phones. Kise perked up at the sight.

"Oh! Look senpai! It's us!" he exclaimed.

"It really is you guys," said Kagami. "But why does Kasamatsu-san look so angry?"

"It tends to happen if I'm around him for too long," Kasamatsu replied. The rest of the GoM nodded in understanding.

"We know the feeling," they all said.

"Hey!" Kise cried. "How mean of you guys-ssu!"

"Wait," said Aomine. "Isn't your phone black? Why are you holding a red one?" Kise blinked.

"Eh? That was my old phone," he said. "Sometime before the Winter Cup, I got a new one."

"Kise-kun didn't follow the color scheme," Kuroko pointed out. Seirin looked at Kuroko.

"What color scheme?" Furihata asked.

"Haven't you noticed?" said Kuroko. "All the Miracles including myself have phone colors that match our hair. I have light blue."

"Shin-chan has green for his!" Takao declared, raising his hand.

"Dai-chan has dark blue for his phone," said Momoi. Aomine looked over at her.

"And you have pink for your phone color, Satsuki."

"Mine is purple~," said Murasakibara. Mibuchi turned to his captain.

"And Sei-chan? Yours matches your hair too, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does," said Akashi. "Mine is red." The other teams were somehow impressed.

"So, you guys actually match your hair and phone colors…" Kasamatsu said, a bit dumbfounded.

"That's somehow kinda cute," said Imayoshi.

"I just see it as weird," Fukui mumbled.

"Anyway, that's it for episode three," said Riko. "We should have enough time to finish watching the game."

"Eh, really?" Kiyoshi said. "Then let's not waste any time and go onto episode four. Let's have some fun."

* * *

 **And that concludes episode 3!**

 **I thank you to everyone who had the patience to wait this long and I'll try not to let too much time pass in between my chapters! I'm going to try and get back into the swing of writing now, since aside from this story, due to my schedule I haven't updated any of my stories in a while so I'll get to the other ones later if any of you reading this follow my other content. Although if any of you are curious about what my ideal updating frequency should look like, just check out my profile and read the stuff in bold! Anyway It's 12:30 a.m. and I'm hungry so food it is. Hopefully I can write for this soon!**

 **Coming up next! Episode 4- Take Care of the Counterattack! Until my next update, you know what to do...**

 **Read and review please!**


	5. Episode 4- TCOTCA!

**Happy 2018!**

 **HI, I KNOW I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SEVEN MONTHS, I KNOW. I had a lot of shit that happened this year. Not going into specifics or it'll take too long. But I'm glad I can finally get back to this story.**

 **I hope everyone is having a good first day of the year, last year was a big ass roller coaster. Anyway, it's 3:30 a.m. and I'm so tired that I can't read. I will get to correcting any mistakes when I wake up. For now, sorry in advance.**

 **Before I get into it, I just wanna say thank you to all the support I got when I was out, and I apologize for the long wait. I'll try not to do that again. Anyway, without further ado...**

 **Please enjoy!**

* * *

Episode 4- Take Care of the Counter Attack!

 **After the opening and recap of the previous episode finished, the title for the current episode popped up on screen.**

 **Episode 4- Take Care of the Counter Attack!**

"Take care of the counter-attack, huh?" said Otsubo. "Are we to expect a good turnaround this episode?"

"Well there should be," said Miyaji. "Seirin won, didn't they?"

"I can see that both teams are getting equally fired up so we should expect something good!" Kiyoshi told them. With that, everyone's attention was turned towards the screen to see how the match would turn out.

 **After Kagami declared that he had figured out Kise's weakness, the whole court stood there in silence. Kise, along with all the other players, was looking at Kagami in shock after what he just said. Even his own teammates were surprised.**

" **Kagami's powerless against Kise," Hyuuga began, "But his weakness is…"**

" **Aside from passing," Riko continued, "the weakest guy on the court, Kuroko-kun?"**

"And of course, every episode Seirin never fails to highlight Kuroko's weakness," Imayoshi sighed. "And you guys call _me_ evil."

"We should give them a new nickname," Hayama suggested. "How 'bout 'Savage Seirin'?"

"Yep, that works for me," said Nebuya.

"We didn't ask for a nickname though," Kagami grumbled.

"You need one," said Takao. "I need something to call you every time you roast another team member."

 **The screen flashed to Kuroko, who was still being grabbed by Kagami, looking fairly unamused.**

"Tetsu is not impressed by your head-grabbing, Kagami," Aomine said to him.

"Shut up," said Kagami. "You don't know how he was thinking."

"Actually, it's pretty spot on, Kagami-kun," said Kuroko. "I don't like having my head grabbed."

"Oh…sorry…"

 **Kise was still staring at Kagami, but finally shook off his initial shock and smirked, raising an eyebrow at him.**

" **So?" he said. "It's true Kurokocchi's style is the only one I can't imitate. But what does that change?" The whistle blew from the sidelines by the referee.**

" **End of the first quarter!" one of the students called from the table. "Take a two-minute break!"**

" **It changes everything," Kagami retorted. "We'll bring you to tears in the second quarter." He then turned around and walked away, leaving Kise to stare at him as he left.**

"Ooohh, a plot twist," said Mibuchi. "I'm excited about the turnout."

"Out of curiosity, Kuroko, did you really bring him to tears in the second quarter?" Akashi asked the Phantom Sixth Man. Kuroko shook his head.

"Unfortunately, it was a figure of speech, Akashi-kun," Kuroko replied.

"Yeah, we didn't really bring him to tears in the second quarter," said Kagami, but then paused and added under his breath, "We actually brought him to tears in the fourth quarter." Kise jerked his head towards Kagami.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," Kagami said.

 **While the gymnasium floor was being cleaned during the break, the screen panned back to the score between Seirin and Kaijo. It was 27 points to 35.**

" **An eight-point difference."**

" **Seirin's not bad."**

 **Those were the kinds of things being said by the bystanders.**

"Well, eight points aren't good, but at least you didn't suck as much as they thought you would," said Fukui. Seirin sweat-dropped.

 _Are we supposed to feel honored?_

" **What the hell are you doing?" Coach Takeuchi yelled. "They're closing the gap!"**

" **Yes, sir!" the team replied.**

" **Your fundamentals suck! Hands up! Screen out! Rebound!"**

" **Yes, sir!"**

" **You're taller than them, so get the rebounds!"**

" **Yes, sir!"**

"Jesus Christ that guy's loud!" Wakamatsu grumbled. "How can anyone listen to him?!"

"I hope you know you're just as loud," said Susa.

 **As Kaijo continued to get told off by their coach, Kasamatsu glanced over at Kise, who seemed to be thinking very heavily about something. Meanwhile, over on Seirin's end, the rookie team seemed to have come up with something.**

" **I see," the screen switched to Riko, who was smirking as she was talking to her own team. "Yeah, that could work." She turned to Kagami.**

 **"Kagami-kun looks like you've finally cooled down." Kagami seemed surprised.**

" **No, I was always—"**

" **You were really pissed!" Hyuuga and Izuki simultaneously interjected.**

"Honestly Kagami," Hyuuga sighed. "How can you not know when you're angry?"

"I do know when I'm angry, captain!" Kagami grumbled.

"Everyone _else_ knows when you're angry," said Tsuchida. The first-year trio nodded in agreement.

"It's true," said Furihata.

"No offense, Kagami, but you do have a habit of taking out your anger on innocent bystanders…" said Fukuda.

" **But Kuroko-kun and Kagami-kun, your coordination will be key," Riko reminded them. "Can you do it?" Kagami shrugged and gave a half-assed expression.**

" **Yeah," he said slowly. "Probably. We'll wo—" Suddenly a hand jabbed Kagami's side out of nowhere, making him choke on his words and make a pained noise. He glared over at Kuroko, who had his hand outstretched, his expression neutral as he stared back at his light.**

" **You bastard, where did that come from?"**

Everyone in the room started chuckling.

"There it is," said Kise. "Kurokocchi's trademark jab-ssu."

"Is it really that painful?" Moriyama asked.

"It's like getting stabbed," said Aomine, a shudder going down his spine. "It's even enough to bring a giant like Murasakibara to his knees."

Everyone looked over at the purple-haired giant in question, who just nodded sagely and continued eating whatever snacks he had left.

 _How scary,_ they all thought.

" **You want to beat Kise-kun, don't you?" Kuroko asked him. Kagami then became serious and then looked back over at the court.**

" **Of course I do!" He said, and then gave Kuroko a jab of his own, causing Kuroko to bend forward in pain.**

"How childish, nanodayo," said Midorima. "Was it necessary to retaliate?"

"He clearly started it!" Kagami exclaimed, pointing a finger at Kuroko. "How come you're not telling him off?!"

"Okaa-san, turn off your maternal instincts, will ya?" said Takao. "Let the children watch the episode."

"What did you just call me?"

 **Once the break was over, Riko and the rest of the benchwarmers watched as the regulars went back onto the court.**

" **Well, then." The referee called them back onto the court.**

" **Let the second quarter begin!"**

" **Take care of the counter attack!"**

"There it is!" Hayama exclaimed in excitement. "I was waiting for someone to say it."

"And I was dreading for you to point it out," Mibuchi grumbled. "Sei-chan, how many episodes do we have left in this series?" Akashi looked back at the DVD case and the note that came with it.

"Around eighty?" he answered. Mibuchi groaned and lolled his head back in despair.

"May God have mercy on me."

 **As the players walked back on the court, the cheering from the bystanders began to start back up again.**

" **Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, Kaijo! Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, Kaijo!"**

" **Go! Get them!" Kawahara shouted from the bench. The first-year trio refused to be out-cheered. "Go get them, Seirin!"**

 **The second quarter started without a hitch. Kaijo took possession of the first ball. Kise dribbled down the court passed all the defenders and dunked with ease.**

 **Hyuuga had the ball in the next cut, trying to get past Moriyama who was marking him. He managed to take a step and shoot a three-pointer.  
**

 **Kise had the ball again, dribbling while Kagami was on his tail and Kasamatsu was backing him up. The Kaijo ace leaped and made a successful jump-shot, the ball swishing cleanly through the net. By the time forty-five seconds had passed, Seirin had 29 points while Kaijo had 39.**

"Uh-oh," said Liu. "Looks like Kaijo has a 10-point lead."

"Once the lead gets to 10 points it starts getting depressing," said Mayuzumi.

"But they won, didn't they?" Himuro asked. "We can expect them to wipe the lead eventually."

"It's _how_ they wipe the lead which is the question," Okamura reminded them, crossing his arms as everyone continued to watch.

 **Riko continued to stand and observe as the players ran back and forth on the court. At this point, Hyuuga had the ball in possession and was being marked by Moriyama.**

 _ **Kaijo's defense is still man-to-man,**_ **he thought. He looked around and passed the ball to Izuki, who caught it and then passed to Kagami, the ace catching it with one hand, as he faced off against Kise.**

"Ohoho~! A showdown!" Hayama exclaimed. "I'm ready for some action!"

"Something is actually gonna happen, right?" Miyaji asked. "I don't wanna get my hopes up."

"I think so," said Furihata. "This was the part where we started trying to turn the game around, right?"

"Yeah," said Kawahara. "I remember this part."

"Me too," Fukuda chimed.

 **When Kagami caught the ball, he locked eyes with Kise.**

" **Something's changed, right?" Kise asked him. Kagami didn't say anything and just gritted his teeth, ready to begin his counterattack. He charged forward and began dribbling down the court, Kise tailing after him.**

 _ **Just another drive? Maybe another fadeaway?**_ **He thought to himself, contemplating the options in his head. But then suddenly, as Kagami was dribbling, he threw the ball back, past Kise. Kise's eyes went wide in shock, turning his head to see what was going on. However, as he was doing so, Kuroko caught the ball behind his back, and pass it back towards Kagami on the other side, leaving Kise lost for words.**

 _ **He's coordinating with Kurokocchi!**_

 **Before Kise could even react, Kagami ran towards the basket and made a lay-up without wasting a second.**

The room made noises of awe as they witnessed Kuroko and Kagami's signature coordination.

"That was pretty cool," said Fukuda. "It can be pretty tricky to pull off maneuvers like that in actual games."

"Yeah," Kise said, giving a nervous laugh. "It really threw me off that day-ssu. It was an unexpected tactic."

"Tetsu-kun and Kagamin are in sync as usual," Momoi quipped. Kuroko and Kagami fist-bumped.

"That's just how we roll," said Kagami.

 **As the score increased by two points for Seirin, the audience was equally as surprised as the players. Riko pumped a fist in the air as she smirked in triumph.**

" **Yes!"**

" **Nice shot!" Tsuchida said from behind her.**

 **Going back to the game, Kagami was in possession of the ball once more, locking eyes with Kise before he threw the ball to the side and ran forward.**

 _ **Again?**_ **Kise thought in frustration.** _ **It won't work this time!**_

 **Unfortunately for Kise, it wasn't like last time. When Kuroko got the ball, he didn't pass to Kagami. Instead, he passed to Hyuuga who caught the ball and made a shot before anyone could come to mark him.**

" **Alright! A three-pointer!" someone shouted. The score went up by three points, leaving the current scores at 34 points for Seirin and 39 for Kaijo.**

" **A five-point difference!"**

"Hmm, for a practice game, this is rather entertaining," said Akashi. "To be able to coordinate with each other to this extent, despite the fact that you hadn't known each other for very long, I'm impressed."

"The almighty one is praising us," Koganei whispered to Mitobe. "What do we do?"

Mitobe blinked twice and waved his hand in a circle. Koganei nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, I hear you. We should probably say thank you." The rest of Seirin looked at him in disbelief.

 _How do you come up with these translations?!_ They all thought.

"Thank you, Akashi-kun," Kuroko said, saving the rest of his senpai the trouble. "Our coordination was good, but we had to work a lot for it since we were fighting Kise-kun."

"I can only imagine," Kiyoshi laughed. "It must have taken so long. But it was worth it for the results it gave."

 **When their score went up, Hyuuga smirked and pushed his glasses him with his finger.**

" **Have you changed your minds, first-ye—"**

" **Nice!"**

" **Alright, defense!"**

 **Hyuuga turned around to find that the first-year duo had completely ignored him and was walking back to their positions with Izuki.  
**

" **Oi!"**

"See? Like I said, sit-com," Kawahara deadpanned as a few people snickered. "Our team can't do anything serious without comedy mixed in for an unintentional humorous effect."

"Don't you mean _pun-_ intentional humorous effect?" Izuki suggested with a grin on his face. Hyuuga smacked the back of his head, giving him a death glare to stop talking.

" _No,_ he did not," Hyuuga answered gruffly, ignoring the whimpering Izuki rubbing his head beside him. "And I'll hit you harder if you say that again."

"Sorry, captain…"

" **Number four's really going for it," Kobori said to Kasamatsu.**

" **We should be worried about Kagami," Kasamatsu replied back. "He and Kuroko have started passing back and forth to each other."**

" **Kagami's just started passing the ball instead of just receiving it. Does that really change much?"**

" **It changes a whole lot, dumbass!" Kasamatsu told him. "Kuroko's passing and Kagami's one-on-one were two separate offense patterns. They only had two options. Now that they pass to each other, they both have more options, making their offense stronger."**

 **A devilish smirk made its way onto Riko's face as she watched the players.**

 _ **And Kise-kun can't copy Kuroko-kun, the linchpin of the play,**_ **she finished.** _ **It's his bane.**_

"Wow, that's seriously incredible that you managed to think of something like this, Aida-san," said Takao. "Now I really wished I could have seen the game."

"Like I said, you would have if you hurried up, nanodayo," Midorima said. Everyone kept staring at those two. Seriously, what did they keep talking about?

 **Kuroko and Kagami ran down the court while Riko and the rest of the team watched on in silence.**

 _ **Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun,**_ **Riko thought to herself.** _ **With these two we can…**_

 **Suddenly Kagami passed to the wrong side, the ball bouncing out of bounds as Kobori chased after it. The light-shadow duo stopped in their tracks and watched the ball bounce away before exchanging looks of equal shame. Riko sweat-dropped in the background.**

 _ **Well, we'll probably just barely make it.**_

The whole room started laughing at Seirin's usual antics.

"And here I thought you guys were gonna be serious," said Aomine. "At least you don't make rookie mistakes like that now. I'll give you that much."

"Whatever," Kagami grumbled. "I don't need acknowledgment form you to know that I'm good."

"I was waiting for the comedy part to happen," said Otsubo. "I didn't know when it'd happen, but I know that when they're serious for too long then it means there's something funny coming up."

 **Kise was panting as he stood there on the court before turning around to face Seirin.**

" **Kurokocchi…" he breathed out. Kuroko did nothing but return the look Kise was giving him, his face remaining neutral as always.**

" **Kise-kun, you're strong," he said after a long pause. "I'm powerless, and Kagami-kun can't stand against you. But when we work together…" The screen panned up to the two of them glaring intensely over at the Kaijo ace. "We have a fighting chance."**

"Hmm, humble, yet bold in their declaration," Imayoshi said thoughtfully. "I like it."

" **You really have changed, Kurokocchi," Kise replied. "We never played basketball like this at Teiko, but you still can't stop me! I will be the winner!"**

 **Kuroko and Kagami held their ground, keeping up their intense staring competition. The screen flashed to the scoreboard as the clock was ticking backward from six minutes and twenty-four seconds.  
**

" **It's true I can't copy your coordination," Kise continued. "But since you'll lose your effectiveness after forty minutes, you'll lose this game in the second half!" Kise caught the ball, taking possession and attempting to drive down the court. Kuroko also turned on his heels and took a running head start.**

" **Not so fast," Kagami said with a smirk. Kise stopped in his tracks as his mouth flew open.**

" **What?" he squawked. There, in all his glory was none other Kuroko Tetsuya, who had stood in front of Kise ready to mark him.**

"So, I'm just gonna assume you guys lost your minds, right?" Takao deadpanned. "There's no way you put this guy up to mark Kise."

"Don't underestimate me, Takao-kun," Kuroko told him. "I can be very intimidating when I want to be."

"Oh yeah, those five feet and six inches have us _real_ scared," Mayuzumi mumbled, rolling his eyes.

 **The entire court was shocked at Seirin's decision.**

" **Kuroko's on Kise?" Kasamatsu said in disbelief.**

 **As Kise stared at Kuroko and Kuroko stared back at him, whispers flew around the audience members.**

" **Who's the guy on Kise?"**

" **Isn't he the guy who passes a lot?"**

" **I don't remember him doing anything other than pass."**

 **The three boys whispering to themselves stood there for a moment before realizing.**

" **He doesn't stand a chance!" the cried simultaneously.**

"There's always at least one person underestimating this kid every episode," said Nebuya. "It's kinda sad…"

"Maybe I should make a list of how many people underestimate my skills," Kuroko pondered aloud.

"There isn't enough paper in the world for a list that long," Hyuuga retorted. Everyone in the room nodded.

"Amen," they all said.

 **Kise grinned as he faced Kuroko.**

" **I never dreamed we'd play together like this, Kurokocchi," he said.**

" **Neither did I," Kuroko replied.**

" **I don't know what you're up to, but you can't stop me, Kurokocchi!"**

 **Kise side-stepped to the left and drove past the Phantom Sixth Man, disregarding the unusualness of them putting Kuroko to mark him. But as soon as he did, Kagami ran out in front of Kise and stopped him.**

" **Wrong," he said. "We're not gonna stop you."**

 **Riko smirked. "We're taking the ball!"**

 **Before Kise even knew what happened, suddenly, Kuroko came up from behind and smacked the ball out of his hand. Kise whipped his head around in surprise.**

 _ **What?! A back tip?! They took advantage of the second I hesitated!**_

A few whistles went around the room.

"Not bad, not bad at all," said Kiyoshi. "You kids sure do come up with some interesting strategies, huh?"

"You sound like an old geezer when you say that," said Hyuuga. "But yes, we do."

"It even surprised me, and I knew about it anyway," said Tsuchida. "They've just got a way of going above people's expectations."

"I'm actually so mad I missed all of this," Takao grumbled. "Shin-chan, it's all your fault."

"Be quiet, Takao."

"Seriously, what the hell have you two been talking about the past two episodes?"

" **It doesn't matter how amazingly you play against us," Kagami said to Kise. Izuki grabbed the ball and began dribbling to the other side of the court. "We're** _ **trying**_ **to let you through!"**

 **The ball swished through the net, making the crowd gasp in awe.**

" **Nice shot!"**

"That was really impressive!" Sakurai exclaimed in delight.

"I'll be honest," said Wakamatsu. "In a practice match like that, I might have fallen for it too."

"You guys are really good at coordination, Taiga," Himuro said. "What do you think, Atsushi?" The purple-haired boy nodded through a mouthful of potato chips.

"Mm-hmm," he managed to say.

 **Kasamatsu was a bit peeved that the Seirin duo one-upped them.**

" **Damn it," he hissed. "A simple double team would've been better." Riko smiled.**

 _ **Not even Kise-kun can react in time to an invisible guy coming up behind him.**_

 **Kise, who seemed to have caught on to their tactics, decided to switch up his own in order to avoid being intercepted.  
**

" **I just won't run by you, then," Kise said, dribbling the ball. "No one said I couldn't shoot a three-pointer!" Kuroko gasped as Kise began getting into shooting position, about to shoot a three-pointer from where he stood. But then when he was ready to shoot, Kagami put a hand on Kuroko's head, using it as leverage to hoist himself up into the air and knock the ball out of his hands.**

"Wow, you really have a thing for using Tetsu's head as leverage," said Aomine. Kuroko eyed him from where he sat.

"You do as well, Aomine-kun."

"Yeah, Aominecchi!" Kise said, piping up suddenly. "Don't be a hypocrite-ssu!"

"I'm just surprised you don't have a migraine," said Kasamatsu.

"I hear you," said Moriyama. "All that head-grabbing and it doesn't hurt? You're one tolerant person, Kuroko-kun."

 **As the shot was blocked, Kise stood there dumbfounded by their tactics once more.**

 _ **They got me,**_ **he thought solemnly.** _ **Kurokocchi's cover below and Kagami's covering up top.**_

 **Kasamatsu was also watching from some distance.**

 _ **An outside shot takes too much movement. These guys are a pain! Kuroko's the one making this happen. He's the most worthless guy on the court, and he can't do anything by himself but… I don't believe this!**_

"I mean shit, they keep roasting him but at least they're getting somewhere this time," said Nebuya. Mibuchi hummed in agreement.

"I think so too," he said. "Maybe Seirin is coming back after all!" Kagami narrowed his eyes as he was watching this bit.

"Wait, if this is the part when I intercepted, then doesn't that mean…"

 **Kagami landed back down on the ground and made a run for it.**

" **Fast break!"**

 **Kise tried to follow him, but in the process of turning around, his hand whipped back and hit Kuroko in the face.** _ **Hard**_ **.**

 **Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Kuroko began falling, and everyone watching had a look of horror in their eyes, including Kise. His body hit the floor and suddenly everyone was rushing over to him.**

" **Kuroko-kun!" Riko cried out. The whistle blew to stop the game.**

" **Referee time-out!"**

" **Kuroko!"**

At this moment, the whole room was silent. Kise could physically feel everyone staring at him, even if he couldn't see everyone. His smile had faded, and he suddenly felt extremely small.

"Oi, Kise," Aomine began. His voice sounded deep and serious, the complete opposite of how he usually sounded. "You didn't do that on purpose, did you?" No noise was heard in the room except the occasional sounds of breathing. They were all waiting for an answer.

"Of course I didn't!" Kise protested. "I swear I didn't hurt Kurokocchi on purpose! I'd never do that-ssu!"

"That was seriously careless, man," Takao reprimanded. Even the usual humor in his voice was replaced by concern. "You hit him really hard."

"I-I know I did," the Kaijo ace persisted. "I know I hit him hard, but I really didn't mean it. I promise. You guys believe me, right?" He looked around the room at all everyone, but they all seemed to be giving looks of doubt, or they just weren't looking at him at all. Kise slumped in his seat as he heaved a sigh and looked at the floor.

"I really didn't do this on purpose you know…"

Unknowingly from the side, Kuroko was gazing over at him with a pondering expression.

 **As his teammates began to rush over, Kuroko sat there on the floor, stunned for a second. But then after Hyuuga had called his name, he looked up. It was only when he raised his head that Riko gasped in shock. From where Kise had hit him, blood was already running down his face.**

A few people in the room winced at the injury that Kuroko had.

"Damn," said Wakamatsu. "That does not look good."

"But how is an injury like that possible?" Himuro wondered aloud. "If he just hit him then how did he end up bleeding?"

"Kise's nails must have been super sharp," Hayama replied. "So when he hit him it must've broken skin."

"That sharp?" Imayoshi said with an eyebrow raised. "Shouldn't that be a hazard? If it's bad enough to break someone's skin then those aren't nails, they're claws."

As everyone continued to mutter about what was going on, Kagami glanced over to Kise and frowned.

"Hey Kuroko, Kise doesn't look too good," he whispered.

"I can see that Kagami-kun," Kuroko whispered back. As he continued to stare at Kise, he realized he was getting more and more unhappy by the second. He wasn't even making eye contact with anyone as his hunched figure seemed to curl in on itself from where he was sitting. If you put Kise and a kicked puppy side-by-side, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between their expressions. The Phantom Sixth Man blinked, eyes softening at the sight, but he wasn't going to say anything to him just yet. Instead, he went back to the episode.

 **As Kuroko stood up from the ground, Hyuuga cautiously approached him.**

" **Are you okay, Kuroko?" he asked. Kuroko swayed a bit trying to keep balance.**

" **I feel light-headed," he answered. As Hyuuga cupped the boy's face in his hands to inspect the injury, Riko turned around to the people on the bench.**

" **Get a first aid kit!"**

 **Kagami walked over to Kuroko while Hyuuga was still looking at his cut.**

" **Are you okay?" he asked. Kuroko closed one eye so the blood wouldn't get into it as he pulled away from Hyuuga's hands to face Kagami.**

" **I'm fine," he said. "The game is just getting star…ted…" he trailed off and tilted back before landing on the floor in a very comical and unceremonious way. Hyuuga and Kagami were speechless.**

" **Kuroko!"**

The very somber vibe in the room took a comical tone as a few people in the room began to snicker.

"Wow Tetsu, you fall like a freaking pansy," Aomine bluntly commented. Momoi heard his remark and elbowed him in the side.

"Don't make fun of him, Dai-chan!" she exclaimed, a disapproving frown on her face. "He really was hurt at the time!"

"For once, I agree with this guy," Mayuzumi interjected suddenly. "I mean look at him, he even stuck his leg up. Even Disney princesses don't faint that way."

"It really doesn't matter what this kid does, huh?" Hyuuga said, shaking his head. "He's always the target of teasing."

"He kind of makes it easy," Takao replied.

 **As Kaijo watched the opposing team fall apart before their very eyes, Kasamatsu began wiping the sweat from his face with his jersey.  
**

" **You're finished," he sighed. "It's not what should have happened, though. Without that first-year duo, the score difference will only grow." Kise watched Seirin tend to their Phantom Sixth Man from where he was standing on the court, a worried expression on his face.**

 _ **Kurokocchi…**_

"Gosh, this sure is getting intense," said Sakurai.

"I hear ya," Kiyoshi continued. "Who knew so much could happen during one practice match? The very first one at that."

"Poor kid, though," Eikichi mumbled. "Getting injured is the worst way to get sent off. I'm sure it must've felt pretty sucky."

"Damn Kise," Aomine said. "You really gotta watch where you swing your arms man."

Kuroko didn't miss the way Kise's mouth twitched into a frown as he hunched his shoulders up slightly, looking rather small. He was about to open his mouth to say something until he saw Kasamatsu put a hand on the Kaijo Ace's shoulder and began glaring at the rest of the people there.

"Hey, just leave him alone and drop it, will you?" he said in a low voice. "He clearly did it by accident and he was sorry for what he did. Now go back to watching before I hit all of you."

Since Kasamatsu was a third-year, no one in the room wanted to chance disobeying him, so they all went back to watching the episode without another word spoken. Kise straightened up at his captain's authoritative voice and looked up at him with round doe-eyes.

"Senpai…"

Kasamatsu glanced down at his kouhai with furrowed brows before he huffed and looked back at the TV again.

"I know you're gonna say something cheesy, so don't bother. Just watch the episode, you big baby."

Kise began to pout at the insult but then lightened up when he felt the hand squeeze his shoulder a little bit before resting there, fingers tapping on it idly. Kuroko, who was watching their interaction, gave a small smile before turning back to the TV himself.

 **The members of the Seirin basketball team stood around a motionless Kuroko as they tried to figure out their next plan of action.**

" **What are we gonna do?" asked Izuki.**

" **Kuroko-kun can't play anymore," said Riko. "We'll have to make do with the members we have left."**

" **Make do?" Kawahara parroted.**

" **Isn't this gonna be tough without Kuroko?" said Fukuda.**

"Everything is always hard without Kuroko," Kagami grumbled.

"You guys rely on him too much," Fukui chided. "You always believe he's gonna be ready to play so when he gets injured you guys never have a backup plan. Isn't that dangerous?"

Everyone sat there as they digested this comment.

 _He's not wrong,_ they all thought.

" **The second years will be our offensive core," said Riko. "It's only the second quarter, but we can't let them get too far ahead of us." She turned to the Seirin captain. "I know it's early, but it's game time, Hyuuga-kun." Hyuuga nodded in understanding. Riko then turned to Kagami after she was done.**

" **Kise-kun will just copy you, so don't play offense, Kagami-kun. Focus on defending. Do everything you can to stop Kise-kun from scoring."**

"Good plan, I'd say," said Imayoshi.

"I second that," Akashi concurred. "It's good to attack, but defending when necessary is also vital."

"Indeed, nanodayo," said Shintarou. "Defending is one of the most vital tactics that can shut down even the strongest of teams."

" **Are you sure that will work?" Kagami asked her.**

"Why is it that every time someone mentions any strategies involving defending you think it won't work?" Himuro asked.

"Kagami-kun only cares about making a basket," Kuroko responded with a slight eye-roll.

"Oi!" the Seirin Ace growled, looking down at the baby blue-haired boy sitting next to him. "I don't know why you're getting mouthy with me anyway, _someone_ has to make the baskets around here. Are _you_ gonna make any? ACK—!"

Kuroko didn't respond verbally and instead gave his reply in the form of a jab to the pressure point in his side. Kagami leaned forward and groaned in pain, wishing that he would just keep his mouth shut sometimes.

 **"It'll be fine. Have some faith," said Hyuuga. Kagami looked over at him, still unconvinced.  
**

" **But—"**

" **I said it'll be fine, dumbass," Hyuuga interjected with a very creepy smile on his face. "Listen to your seniors once in a while or I'll kill you."**

 **Kagami back away shocked, not knowing how to reply to that.**

Everyone in the room laughed except Kagami, who was watching himself get scolded on screen.

"Oh boy, is it about that time?" Kiyoshi asked.

"You bet," Koganei replied. "It's clutch time!"

"Clutch time?" Liu echoed. "What kind of Japanese lingo is that?"

Mitobe waved his arms in a circle, shook his head and blinked twice. Koganei nodded and turned backed to Liu.

"Mitobe was just saying how clutch time is when Hyuuga gets all focused and serious in a pinch."

"Uhhh, yeah… Thanks…" said Liu, ignoring all the questions that just popped into his head after watching Koganei interpret Mitobe's version of sign language. "Anyway, that must be super useful to have in difficult matches."

"Yeah, if you disregard the cons…" Fukuda mumbled.

"Oh yeah," said Kagami. "When captain goes into clutch-time he gets super tyrannical. Suddenly he wants everyone to go on their knees and weird stuff like that. It's kinda scary."

The Rakuzan starters all began to stare at Akashi, who after a few seconds became aware of the attention he had drawn and turned around with an eyebrow raised.

"What?"

 _Oh, we know the feeling,_ they all thought.

 **The whistle blew to signal the end of the timeout, Hyuuga beginning to walk back to the court mumbling under his breath.**

" **First-years should show more respect to your seniors! Get on your knees!"**

" **You're showing your true colors, Captain," Izuki called after him, unbothered by his change in behavior. He turned back to Kagami. "Don't worry about him. He's always like that during clutch time." Kagami looked at him, confused.**

" **When he speaks his mind, he won't miss many of his shots. Leave the offense to him. Just defend like your life depends on it."**

"Oh, so that's why he always makes his shots when he's angry?" Kasamatsu inquired, raising his eyebrows. "I guess that makes sense now."

"I guess that's also why Kagami was defending so hard," said Moriyama.

"Although, to be honest, my life sort of depended on it," Kagami muttered.

 **In the next possession, Hyuuga was being marked by Moriyama. After trying to shake him off for a few seconds, he finally broke free, Koganei moving into his place before Moriyama could get to him. Moriyama looked agitated.**

 _ **A screen!**_ **He thought.** _ **And just at the right time.**_

 **Izuki passed the ball to Hyuuga, who caught it with ease. As soon as he caught it, Mitobe moved in front of his mark, Kobori, who was under the basket. He gritted his teeth.**

 _ **Bastard!**_

"Not bad," said Aomine. "The screen was pulled off with perfect timing."

"Seirin most definitely isn't bad with defense at all, or sneaky tactics," Takao reminded him. "Even before the addition of the rookie duo that defeated us all, they were good on the inside and the outside."

 **Hyuuga finally jumped up and shot the ball, the camera panning to it making an arc in the air as it made its way towards the basket.**

 _ **He's usually a normal guy, but when he gets going, he's amazing! Also scary!**_ **Riko thought as stats of him came up on the screen.** _ **He's the multiple personality clutch shooter, Hyuuga Junpei!**_

" **Take that," Hyuuga said smugly. The ball swished through the net cleanly.**

"There it is, Hyuuga's signature three!" Kiyoshi exclaimed. "They never fail to amaze me."

"I mean yeah, they're pretty cool," said Mayuzumi. "But did we need that character introduction just now? What was that?"

 **The camera panned over to Izuki next.** _ **Calm and collected, he never loses his cool! He may seem cool and in control, but he has a sense of humor! He's Izuki Shun!**_ **As his stats were shown on screen next he made another pun.**

" **Nice icy-hot Salon Pass," his eyes widened. "Oh man, that was a good one!"**

"No, it wasn't!" Hyuuga told him. "I don't know how such nonsense can leave your mouth."

"I don't even think I can laugh at that," Takao muttered. "That was just too sad."

 **The next was Mitobe, who was standing there smiling.** _ **The hardworking unsung hero! A man whose voice no one has heard, Mitobe Rinnosuke!**_

"Oh yeah, this guy," said Wakamatsu. "Why does he never speak?"

"Is he mute?" Hayama asked. "Surely he would've been in a more special school if he couldn't speak entirely. Or he would've gotten some type of surgery, right?"

The entire of Seirin looked towards the man in question, who just looked at him and gave a small smile. Koganei blinked.

"He just doesn't prefer speaking," he said. "We've never heard him talk either."

 _And that doesn't concern you?_ The rest of the teams thought.

 **Next was Koganei.** _ **He can do everything and nothing! A jack of all trades, master of none! He's Koganei Shinji!**_ **Koganei looked offended at the narration for himself.**

" **You're so mean!" he cried.**

"Ah, there goes Savage Seirin again," said Takao.

"Now that you've used the name, it actually sounds like it works," Nebuya quipped from the side.

"I like it!" Hayama exclaimed.

 **Riko grinned as she watched all of her players on the court.**

 _ **Unfortunately, every last one of them never gives up!**_

"The one quality every basketball player should have," said Akashi. "A game is no fun if your opponents have given up."

"I'll say," said Aomine.

"Oh yeah true, Aomine has experienced the worst of it," said Tsuchida. "But he's right. As long you don't give up, that's what matters."

 **Switching scenes, the camera showed the outside roads, someone panting in the distance.**

"Huh? What's going on?" Murasakibara asked. "Is the game over?"

"No, I don't think so," said Himuro. "But why are they switching scenes?"

"Wait," Takao interjected. "Is this what I think it is?"

The rest of them looked over to the Hawk-Eyed player in question. What did he mean?

 **The wheels of some vehicle rotated as someone in a black school uniform pedaled it down the road on a bicycle.**

Kimura narrowed his eyes at the screen.

"Wait, hang on, that's our uniform," he said. The other two Shuutoku third-years looked closer as well.

"Oh? It is," said Miyaji.

"Well it's not me pedaling that thing," said Otsubo.

"Wait," said Kise. "If it's not you three senpai, then isn't that…"

" **Damn it, we were supposed to trade at the signal," the unnamed biker panted, pulling along a green-haired person in the back. They passed a little boy standing on the sidewalk, watching them pass by.  
**

" **It's a rear car," he said, blinking owlishly.**

"So it _was_ you two!" Otsubo said to his two kouhai. "What are you doing pedaling that down the road? Where were you going?"

"We were on our way to watch the practice match!" said Takao.

"Eh? You were there?" Kagami asked him. "But I didn't see you there."

"Takao was too slow, so we arrived a bit too late, nanodayo," Midorima told him. Takao grunted in annoyance.

"It was because you decided you didn't wanna switch at the signal and my stamina ran out halfway! That's why we didn't make it in time!"

Everyone finally realized what Takao had been talking about with Midorima this whole time. That's why Takao was complaining about missing the game. But still…

"If you had taken public transport, you would've gotten there on time," Furihata pointed out. "Why did you guys take a rickshaw?"

"That's just their usual mode of transportation," Kuroko deadpanned. "Aside from when they're with their team, I've never seen them use any other form of transportation."

"Is it really that fun?" Mibuchi inquired.

"I remember once when I was in Tokyo for a few days, I ran into them and they offered me a drive around town in it," said Akashi. "I'll be honest, it was slightly embarrassing at first and many people stared us down on the streets, but it was an experience I'll never forget."

"Also I'm sure it exercises Takao-san's legs a lot," Sakurai added. "No wonder you move so fast during a game!" Takao smirked.

"Heh, I guess that's one way to look at it," he said.

" **You haven't pedaled once!" Takao continued to complain.**

" **Of course I haven't," Midorima told him, holding up the can of red bean soup he was drinking. "Today's Oha-Asa horoscope predicted the greatest day for Cancer's like me."**

" **What does that have to do with this?!"**

"It must suck to be this guy's lackey all the time," said Nebuya. "All that complaining, and you still pedal him around? You must be one loyal dude."

"Whose rickshaw even is that?" said Kawahara.

"Yeah," said Fukuda. "Where did they get it from?"

"You know, I heard there was this one dude who sells them in Tokyo. His name is Rick Shaw."

"Izuki shut up."

" **Anyway," Takao continued. "If we're coming all the way out here to see a practice match, your middle school teammates better be good!"**

" **It's the copycat and the invisible man," Midorima told him.**

"Copycat?" Kise echoed.

"Invisible Man?" Kuroko parroted.

"We both have names, you know," they said the same time. Midorima faltered.

"I know that!" he retorted. "I was explaining who was playing in more simplistic terms so someone like Takao would understand, nanodayo."

"What do you mean 'someone like Takao'?!" Takao exclaimed. "I'm not stupid, you could've just said Kuroko and Kise and been done with it!"

"No fighting, you two!" Miyaji scolded.

" **Are they good?" Takao asked him.**

" **Hurry up or the game will be over," Midorima reminded him.**

" **It's your fault for reading horoscopes!" Takao shouted back.**

"Reading horoscopes is really that big of a deal, huh?" Liu said.

"The way he follows its every word, it might as well be his religion," said Takao. "This guy won't leave his house until he's absorbed every word from this Oha-Asa program!"

 **Going back to the game, both teams were still going at it, neither side refusing to back down. Kasamatsu looked on at the players in front of him.**

 _ **They're not as good without Kuroko,**_ **he thought.** _ **But their offensive team isn't bad. They're putting No. 4's shooting ability to good use.**_

 **While both teams continued to fight, Kuroko lay still behind Seirin's bench as the subs along with the coach continued to monitor the game. Tsuchida looked at the scoreboard.**

" **There's a minute and a half left in the second quarter."**

 **Kuroko was still lying down on the mat, unmoving.**

"Damn, he really knocked out hard," said Imayoshi. "Just how low is his stamina?"

"Very low, unfortunately," Riko sighed, rubbing her temples.

 **Hyuuga managed to make another three-pointer, but he was still exhausted.**

 _ **This isn't easy,**_ **he thought to himself.** _ **On top of that, we lost power when we lost Kuroko. I'm starting to lose focus. I'm don't think we can make a comeback.**_

"Wow, the old Seirin used to give up pretty quickly back then compared to now," said Mibuchi.

"I agree," said Mayuzumi. "Even during our match against them, they were still hopeful despite being down by twenty points. But even in this match, they're only down by six points but they're on the verge of surrendering."

"Not to mention it's only a practice match," said Kotarou. "It sucks to lose, but even if you did, it's not like it's a big deal."

"It seems like you guys needed Tetsu-kun more than any of our teams did," Momoi said with a laugh. "If it wasn't for his fighting spirit to keep you going, you guys would give up pretty quickly."

 **The benchwarmers were beginning to get concerned. Kawahara turned to Riko.**

" **Coach, isn't there anything we can do?"**

" **They don't have any energy left for plays after the first half's pace," she said. "If only we had Kuroko-kun…" Suddenly, a voice came out from behind Riko while she was watching the game.**

" **Very well."**

 **Riko blinked and turned around with the rest of the benchwarmers to find Kuroko standing up from the mat on the floor. He faced them with one eye open, looking slightly disheveled from the sleep.**

" **Good morning."**

A few people snickered at Kuroko's appearance on screen.

"Is it me, or does he look like a puppy here?" said Imayoshi. At that, a bark was heard from the far side of the room that made everyone turn their head. Padding towards the large group, was Nigou, happily running up to his owner.

"Nigou," said Kuroko. "How did you get out of the room?"

"Oh? If it isn't the exact puppy we were thinking of," said Takao. Kagami began shaking and scooted away from Kuroko.

"D-Dammit, why does he have to sit here?" he stammered.

"Don't be mean, Kagami-kun," Kuroko reprimanded. "Nigou can stay here if he wants." Imayoshi looked back and forth between Kuroko and Nigou and raised his eyebrows.

"Wow, Aomine was right. They really do look alike…"

" **I'll be going then," Kuroko announced and staggered towards the court.**

" **Hey, wait!" Riko cried. Running in front of him in a panic when he didn't stop. "What are you talking about?" Kuroko looked confused.**

" **But you just told me to go."**

" **I didn't tell you to do that!" Riko responded. "It just slipped out."**

" **Then I'm going."**

" **Hey!"**

" **If I can change anything by going out there, please. Besides, I promised Kagami-kun I'd be his shadow."**

"You know, now that I think about it, that line sounds pretty cheesy," said Susa.

"Out of context it doesn't make any sense either," said Okamura.

"Well that's our team for you," said Hyuuga. "Masters of shitty puns and cheesy lines."

"Hey! My puns are funny!"

 **Riko looked at Kuroko in exasperation, helpless and not knowing what to do. Even the benchwarmers could see the determination in the boy's face. But after a moment she finally came to a decision. She sighed.**

" **Fine," she said. "But, if I think you're in trouble, I'm switching you out immediately."**

"I suppose that's a fair gamble," said Himuro. "Sometimes in basketball, you have to prioritize emotion over strategy."

"That's been happening a lot these days too," said Fukui.

"It's (n)ot surp(r)ising (th)ough," said Hayakawa.

"I don't know what you just said, but I think I agree," said Kobori.

 **The whistle blew once more, and the players stopped the game. Koganei waked over to switch out with Kuroko, high-fiving him as he went back to the bench. Kuroko then walked up to the court, where Kagami was waiting for him. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Kagami nodded.**

" **Let's go," he said. Kuroko nodded as well.**

" **Yeah."**

 **Meanwhile, from the other side of the court, Kise was looking at them with a serious expression, wondering what was to come.  
**

"Something good must be coming up, right?" said Takao. "The opening song is playing in the background."

"Of course!" said Riko. "Our games always have curveballs in them."

"Golden rule of anime, when the opening music starts playing, something cool is gonna happen," Aomine informed them.

"You an anime fan?" Wakamatsu inquired. "That's interesting."

"Everyone has watched at least one anime in their lifetime," said Aomine. "Even this guy."

Everyone followed to where his finger was pointing, only to be baffled when they realized he was pointing at Akashi.

"You too?" said Koganei. Akashi shrugged.

"It was on TV once, but after watching an episode I got interested. I've seen a fair few animes at others' requests as well, but we'll talk about that later."

"As an anime fan myself," said Izuki "we've got a lot to talk about when this is over, Akashi," Akashi smirked.

"If you say so, Izuki-san."

 **Once Kuroko came back onto the court, the game went back into full swing, both teams doing their best on both defense and offense. Yet somehow, Kuroko's passing gave Seirin the extra mile. Even though he had just barely recovered, he was doing better than ever, and his passes kept breaking through Kaijo's defense. Kaijo was baffled.**

" **We were just getting used to him, but now he's back at full power," Kasamatsu said, realizing what was going on. "It must be because he stayed out the last two quarters."**

 **With a bit less than five minutes on the clock, Seirin had almost closed the gap in Kaijo's lead. Exclamations of surprise were thrown around the gymnasium from spectators.**

" **Whoa, seriously?"**

" **Eighty to eighty-two?"**

" **They're catching up!"**

"That was quick," said Kiyoshi. "You guys were really putting in work! Did you even need me at all this year? Haha!"

"Of course we needed you, dumbass!" Hyuuga said to him. "If you were there, we might not have even had to struggle as much. We might have even won with a bigger score!"

"Ah, imagine getting more than a one-point lead to finish the game," Kagami said in awe. "We could've won by ten points, or even twenty points if Kiyoshi-senpai was there! Imagine the look on Kise's face…"

"Hey, Kagamicchi, aren't you being a bit too sadistic right now?"

 **Seirin wasn't finished yet, Kuroko and Kagami continued to run, fully immersed in the game. The rest of the team wasn't slacking either as Hyuuga made another shot. Kise looked on in horror as the ball soared through the air.**

" **You're kidding!" said a spectator. Riko grinned in satisfaction.**

 **The ball swished through the hoop as Hyuuga gave a devilish smirk.**

" **They're tied!" someone in the audience cried.**

" **Seirin finally caught up!"**

 **Everyone on the Kaijo team was a mixture of shocked and angry while everyone on Seirin was the complete opposite and were rejoicing that they finally got back to square one.  
**

"Well, well, look at that," said Imayoshi. "You really held on 'til the very end. I commend your perseverance."

"I won't lie," said Kasamatsu. "They sure gave us a run for our money."

 **Out of everyone on the court, the most shocked had to have been Kise, who stood there with his mouth open and his eyes wide.**

 _ **We're tied?**_

 **He chuckled slightly, but then his face changed. Expression serious, he eyed the rest of the players on the court with an air of danger.**

"Oh? Seems like Kise-chin is making that face again," said Murasakibara.

"What face?" said Liu.

"That face he makes when he doesn't want to lose."

"Uh-oh," said Fukui. "Seems like even after all that, winning the game still didn't come easy."

"But with only five minutes left in the game, what else could happen?" Liu asked.

"We've seen Seirin turn an entire match around with four seconds left in the fourth quarter," said Akashi. "Five minutes is plenty of time for something to happen."

 **Kuroko noticed the change in Kise's demeanor immediately, both him and Kagami turning around to look at him. At the next possession, Kasamatsu hurled the ball in the blonde's direction.**

" **Kise!" he shouted. Kise caught the ball and charged pass Kuroko before he even realized it. Kagami panicked and ran to assist.**

" **Kuroko!" he cried. Kuroko recovered from the shock and tried to use his back-tip strategy, but Kise crossed the ball to the other hand before he could touch it. Kuroko and Kagami were shocked, even Riko was surprised.**

"Oh wow, he's getting faster," said Takao. "What is he, Sonic?"

"You watch too many cartoons," Midorima sighed.

 **Before they had a chance to defend, Kise had already driven past, dunking the ball with extra force. He landed back on the ground and stood himself up, sweat dripping from his face and hair as the ball hit the ground. Kuroko and Kagami could only watch as Kise made another basket.**

 _ **He's even stronger?**_ **Kagami thought in disbelief.** _ **Did he see though Kuroko?**_

" **I won't lose!" Kise told him, his body radiating rage. "Not to anyone. Not even to Kurokocchi."**

"Ki-chan, your face is scary!" said Momoi. "It's even worse than Dai-chan's!"

"Oi, Satsuki! My face is not that scary!"

"It is too, Aomine-kun," said Kuroko. "There are a few kids at the park who get scared by your presence when we go there to practice on the courts." Takao snorted.

"Wow, that's tragic."

 _ **This isn't good,**_ **Hyuuga thought, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Give it your all, everyone. This'll be just like the first quarter from here on out. A back and forth run-and-gun game! Hurry up, defense!"**

" **Hyuuga-kun, hurry!" Riko shouted. "Mitobe-kun, post up!"**

" **Kagami!" Koganei cried.**

" **Go, go!" Tsuchida yelled from beside him.**

" **What are you doing?!" Coach Takeuchi fumed from his bench. "You're slow getting back!"**

 **The ball finally came into Kasamatsu's possession, who passed it to Kise, dribbling as Kagami was on his tail. The game kept going back and forth between the two teams. First Kagami made a shot, then Kise. The clock kept ticking, however, and everyone made sure not to forget that.**

 _ **Two minutes and eleven seconds left,**_ **thought Riko. She watched the game even more intensely. The rest of the players on the court were getting desperate as well, trying to keep up the place and prevent another's team from grabbing control. Soon there was one minute left and the score was 91-93.**

"God, and here I thought the game would be over soon," said Miyaji. "Both teams really gave it their all."

"As it should be, nanodayo," Midorima concurred. "However, there is only one team who took home a win that day."

Even though the others' teams already knew the outcome of the match, if they hadn't heard of the outcome before watching this practice match, they would have thought it could have been anyone's game the way things were going. For a rookie team, Seirin really did apply a lot of pressure.

 **Basket after basket was made by both teams, and by this time, the score finally evened out once more at 98-98 with twenty seconds left in the fourth quarter.**

" **They're tied once more!"**

" **These resilient bastards!" Kasamatsu cursed. "Finish them!"**

 **With fifteen seconds left, Seirin was getting desperate as well.**

" **There's no time left!" Hyuuga shouted. "Get them! If we don't take the ball here, it's over!" Kagami was about to run when a voice called out to him.**

" **Kagami-kun."**

 **He looked down to see Kuroko standing next to him.**

" **If we can get the ball, there's one more thing we can do that Kise-kun can't copy." Kagami looked at him in interest.  
**

" **It's a simple strategy that will only work once, though," he warned. Riko watched from the side with a grave expression.**

 _ **There's less than 10 seconds left,**_ **she thought.** _ **We don't have the strength to play into overtime.**_ **The spectators in the crowd went wild.**

" **Good defense!"**

" **Don't let them score!"**

" **You can't just defend!" Riko shouted to them. "Take the ball!" Hyuuga paused in his running.**

 **Six seconds left.**

 **Kasamatsu had the ball and Hyuuga ran up to him trying to defend.**

 _ **Worthless piece of shit!**_ **Hyuuga cursed internally. Suddenly Kasamatsu jumped out of nowhere. Hyuuga looked back to see him going for a shot.**

 _ **Crap!**_

 **The ball left his hands, but as soon as they did, Kagami smacked the ball out of his hand. Kasamatsu's eye went wide.**

" **Oh! He got it," another spectator crowed.**

" **Seriously?"**

"Seriously is right," said Takao. "With ten seconds left, you guys sure are cutting it close!"

"What do you expect? We're Seirin!" Kagami said. "We're the best at making comebacks."

"If you guys were better at maintaining control then you wouldn't need a comeback!"

 **Hyuuga caught the ball and hoped for the best, launching it towards Kuroko and Kagami, who was already getting a running start.  
**

" **Don't let them through!" Kasamatsu shouted. Before Kagami and Kuroko could do anything, Kise came in front of them to stop them, much to their dismay. But they still had a plan. Right as the two were about to pass him, Kagami passed the ball.**

" **Kuroko!"**

 **This set off warning bells in Kise's head. He whipped his head around in surprise.**

" **Kurokocchi can't shoot!" Kise exclaimed. "With only two of them, he'll have to pass it back to Kagami!" But Kuroko seemed to have another thing planned. Betraying everyone's expectations, Kuroko threw the ball towards the basket.**

" **He shot the ball?!" Kise cried out.**

"Eh? Were you doing Phantom Shots since then, Tetsu-kun?" Momoi said in bewilderment. Kise shook his head.

"You got it wrong, Momocchi," said Kise. "This was the move that really finished us off-ssu."

"Ah, I think I know the move!"

 **The whole court held their breath as they watched the ball soar through the air. There was one second left. Kasamatsu was the first to realize that this wasn't just an ordinary shot.**

 **"No…," he said. Kagami got a running start and jumped up in the air. "It's an alley-oop!"**

" **I won't let you do that!" Kise shouted. He jumped in the air as well, trying to get to Kagami, but it wasn't enough.**

 _ **He's still climbing?! How far will he go?**_ **Kise's eyes widened as he was in the air.** _ **We jumped at the same time, but I'm falling first. How can you stay in the air so long?**_

"You know," said Kobori. "I didn't think of it much 'til now, but that was the first time ever we got a glimpse of Kagami's jumping ability."

"Same for us," said Izuki. "It was the first time we saw Kagami's potential."

"Hasn't one second passed already though?" Mayuzumi asked, ignoring their comments. "How are they thinking in normal time but a second hasn't passed?"

"When you're playing basketball, all your thoughts come and go very quickly," said Akashi. "They probably slowed the thoughts down for the convenience of us viewers. Otherwise, there's no way this thought process could have gone on."

"Thank God explained it in a way I understand," said Fukui. "I thought I was gonna lose my mind over how long this was taking. How can someone be thinking for ten seconds but only one second has passed in real time?"

 **As Kagami reached for the basketball, he thought of what Kuroko told him before they ran for the ball.**

" _ **It's a simple strategy that will only work once, though."**_

" **I don't need you to return the favor!" said Kagami. "Because…" The camera showed Kuroko's face once more during the flashback.**

" _ **We just have to score a buzzer beater."**_

 **Kagami grabbed the ball and his hand went towards the hoop.**

" **This ends now!"**

 **Kagami dunked the ball at the very last second, the clock running out of time as Seirin's score changed from ninety-eight to one hundred. The whistle blew to signal the end of the game, leaving Kise with a horrified look on his face before the episode finally finished, ending song playing.**

"Eh? That's where it ended?" said Kawahara. "It's a bit anti-climatic if you ask me."

"But at least we know the result," Furihata told him. "I mean, it doesn't matter to us, since we were there, but for the rest of the teams."

"Either way, that was a really good game!" said Kiyoshi. "You guys did a great job!"

"It was impressive the way you coordinated with Kuroko in your very first practice match," said Liu. "I doubt many of us would be able to utilize him that much."

"Uh, well, it was mostly thanks to coach," said Kagami. "She came up with the strategies and stuff, so…" Riko giggled a little bit.

"Ah, don't flatter me too much, Kagami-kun!"

While the others were busy chatting amongst themselves, Kuroko felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Kise looking back at him, looking slightly sheepish.

"Um, Kurokocchi?" The boy in question blinked.

"Yes, Kise-kun?" Kise looked down for a moment, playing with his hands as he tried to collect his words.

"So, hey, about your injury…"

"Kise-kun, you don't have to apologize for that, it's totally healed."

"Yeah, but still, I was careless!" Kise insisted, Kuroko not failing to spot the slight pout on his lips. "I wasn't looking where I was going, and you still got hurt-ssu. I didn't properly apologize for it before so I'm saying it now. Not because I think I'll get in trouble, but because I'm actually sorry." Kuroko smiled.

"Did you think I was still mad?" Kise faltered.

"Well, I—"

"I could never really be mad with Kise-kun…" Kise's eyes went wide.

"Kurokocchi," he said in admiration. "I really—"

"I can only be extremely annoyed with Kise-kun."

"How rude!"

"But…" Kuroko continued, making Kise stop his sulking. "That doesn't mean I won't want to be your friend. I've long forgiven you, so you don't have to make things awkward for yourself." Suddenly a few people in the room began laughing, pointing to the screen in amusement.

"Oh my God, who took this photo?"

"Kuroko and Kise, you two are really something."

"I'm surprised Kuroko didn't kill him."

Kise looked to what they were pointing at and saw a picture of himself lifting Kuroko in the air with one arm, a basketball in the other. He remembered the day that happened. Kuroko and Kise got into a bet about how strong Kise was and the blonde copycat bets that he could carry Kuroko with just one arm. He had asked Momoi to take a photo of the triumphant moment when he succeeded. Just looking at that one picture made him snort. Soon, Kise was laughing with the rest of them.

"As usual, Kurokocchi weighs no more than a bag of feathers," he teased. Kuroko smiled.

"It seems like I underestimated Kise-kun that time."

"Figures." Kise finished laughing, sighing to himself in satisfaction.

"You know what?" said Kise. "I feel better already, thanks, Kurokocchi!" Kuroko smiled at him and nodded.

"It was no problem, Kise-kun."

"Hey, what are we waiting for? Let's watch the fifth episode-ssu!"

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed! Idk when I'll see you next, just know I'm alive and well. But anyway I'm gonna go to bed and then reread this in the morning. Until my next update, you know what to do...**

 **Read and review please! Happy New Year!**


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